The Impatient Outpatient

In mid-January I visited my primary physician for my annual physical.  Because my PSA shot up above 7, he recommended I see a urologist.   I had to wait until early March to see the urologist I've seen before.

When I saw him, he decided he wanted to take 20 biopsy samples, which means it would be done with anesthesia in a hospital rather than in his office.  So, that was scheduled in late March, at 5:45 in the morning.  But then he wanted me to see my primary physician for a pre-op.  I scheduled that for a few days before the biopsy surgery.  When I saw my primary physician, he didn't think there would be any problem.

But then he thought about it and because I have a heart valve blockage he thought I should see a cardiologist.  This was about two days before the scheduled surgery.  I couldn't see my cardiologist until the following week.  I notified the urologist's scheduler and she supposedly notified the hospital.

I think the hospital called a day or two before the surgery and I informed them of the delay.  At 6:15 of the morning of the original scheduled surgery, the hospital called asking why I wasn't there!

I saw the cardiologist the following Thursday.  He didn't see any reason I couldn't have the biopsy.  The risk of surgery to open my artery was greater than the risk of the biopsy.

I called urology scheduling and she "penciled" me in for April 10th.  At least this time I wouldn't miss a class. "Penciled" probably means entered in the computer system with a provisional note.  Surgery called me back a few days later and said I was scheduled for 8 in the morning.  A much more civilized time.

So no alcohol 24 hours before and 24 hours after.  I like my wine but I could give it up for a couple of days.  No breakfast on the day of surgery.  Now, that is hard to give up.  Only coffee, water, and clear juice.  At least I get a jolt of glucose with clear apple juice.

Off we go on Wednesday morning with my wife to keep me company and drive me home.

We get whisked into a small room with a hospital bed and a woman working on a computer in the other half of the room.  Hm!  Are they getting crowded for office space?  I'm given a gown, a robe, support hose, and cloth socks with sticky bottoms.  My wife looked at the last and said she should have brought those $125 socks from home; that's what was on the bill for her surgery a couple of years ago.

So, I'm just about ready to be trundled off to surgery.  We sit and wait.  My wife has a book, but I can't get into reading much.  I just sit quietly on the edge of the bed (gurney).  And we wait.  It's nine o'clock.  We hear there has been an emergency surgery.  That's certainly more important than my biopsy.  And we wait.

A guy is brought in on a gurney to recover from his surgery.  The woman working on a computer is his girl friend trying to catch up on work while waiting.

I play with words in my head and come up with "The impatient outpatient".  I tell it to a nurse and she just about cracks up.  She was my best audience; others smiled or shrugged.  Maybe they took it as a serious criticism.

Finally about ten o'clock I'm trundled out of the room in my bed.  I watch the ceiling lights flash by and chat with the nurse pushing me.  She places me in a curtained alcove.  The urologist comes by to check on me; his beaming face is a relaxant.  The anesthesiologist comes by and I ask him his name.  It's Muzzi.  "Parlai italiano?"  Boy, does he!  Not exactly like a native, but better conversation than I could make.  And he spoke slowly enough that we understood every word.  He learned it from his "nonna" (grandmother).  Next comes an anesthesiology nurse who heard some of the previous conversation and said he was "German" and asked me to use some German phrases.  In the course of these comings and goings, I rattled off a few phrases in other languages.  Was I entertaining the staff or were they distracting me?  While this last conversation is going on, the nurse puts an I.V. in me and starts a saline drip.  No big deal except the tube irritates the crook of my elbow a few times.

The surgery space becomes available and I'm moved two or three curtained spaces.  Daphne, another anesthesiology nurse, starts the drip of Propofol.  Hoo boy!  My arm feels like somebody is squeezing it everywhere.  Then somebody says, "Melvyn, wake up!"

I feel really tense and stretch everything I can.  But otherwise I am content to just lie there.  After a few minutes I again watch the lights flash overhead but I don't chat as much.  Back in the room.  Goodness, it's two o'clock.

I'm offered beverages and I choose water and apple juice, the latter again for the energy.  I feel better and better.  My bladder says its time to go down the hall.  I manage mostly on my own, but slowly and with a nurse at my elbow.

At about three I get permission to get dressed and go home.  The staff gives my wife time to bring our car to the front door and escorts me out.  Home we go and life returns to normal, sort of.

I was told I would learn the results in a couple of days.  Well, those couple of days were thrown into turmoil by the weather.  Duluth was hit by a heavy, wet snow fall and many activities were cancelled.  As of Sunday I have not been given a result.   My attitude is that I'm positive the results are negative.

Meanwhile, I've moved a lot of snow and slept well.  The worst side effect was a sore throat from the breathing tube that was put in my throat so I could breathe properly.  Today I feel I have some of my singing ability (whatever that means) back.

For the follow-up, see "I was right to be positive about a negative".

The Axis of Weasels

Syria, Iran, and North Korea have voted against the Arms Trade Treaty.  An axis of weasels that would rather have the right to threaten opponents, domestic and foreign, than have a reduction in the arms trade that enables petty tyrants and terrorists to destabilize countries.

Now, thanks to a few who wrongly fear that the Arms Trade Treaty would take away their right to have their guns, the United States may be prohibited by a vote of the Senate from signing the treaty, thus joining the Axis of Weasels.

Oh, well, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned against the military-industrial complex would be a RINO to those opposing the Arms Trade Treaty.

See "Tell the Truth about the Arms Trade Treaty", Rachel Stohl, New York Times, 2013-04-11

Dictatorship of the directorate

I've long promoted the idea of withholding votes for directors of companies who are paid too much.  Well, even if all the shareholders withhold their votes, the directors of many companies get to keep their jobs.  All that is required is a plurality of votes.  Since one vote with no opposition is a plurality, they get to keep their jobs.  And their perks.  And accumulate more shares.  And run the company without any consideration for the owners.  Instead of Milton Friedman's corporate purpose of "shareholder value", they run the company for "director value".

For more, see "When Shareholder Democracy is Sham Democracy", James B. Stewart, New York Times, 2013-04-12.

Why snail research is important

On a Bill Maher show, "Stephen Moore, libertarian economist and Wall Street Journal columnist" kept pounding away that we must reduce the debt and one way to do that is to cut funding for science grants, like $2 million for snail mating research.  "19-year-old Zack Kopplin, science advocate and history student" retorted that government-sponsored science often gives far better returns than many investments.  He gave as an example that the government investment in genome research paid back 140 times the investment.  See "College Kid Forced To Remind Know-It-All Economist That He's Actually Not A Scientist".

Warning: this segment deteriorates into a shouting match!

I might add, would we be reading these stories if the government hadn't invested in the Internet decades ago?  Would we have had Google if the government hadn't given a California university a grant to study search algorithms?

About the snail mating research, "it's to prevent children in developing countries from getting parasitic worms…"  Why should we protect these children from parasitic worms?  Parasites increase poverty.  Poverty leads to corruption.  Corruption leads to terrorism.  Two million dollars is a much better investment to prevent terrorism than two hundred million dollars and rising per F-35, a plane that still has many problems.

Quote of the day: Smart action or mooching?

"Why is it that if you take advantage of a corporate tax break you're a smart businessman, but if you take advantage of something so you don't go hungry, you're a moocher?"

- "Jon Stewart pins down the media with their own words"

Unfortunately, the headline is one of those sweeping generalizations that tar a large group with the same broad brush.  Jon Stewart is part of the media.  Does he also call one advantage smart action and the other mooching?

Commerce without connection

"Historians will tell you that nothing changed the American retail experience in the 20th century more than the shopping mall. Once developers clustered hundreds of stores in a single place (with ample parking), the American Main Street all but disappeared. People stopped seeing each other in the center of town. They felt less connected to their community — certainly less connected to its businesses."

Mitch Albom, Duluth News Tribune 2013-04-08

This quote was in "'Just browsing' may become a memory" also published on his website on 2013-03-31.

His article is on how the shopping on the web is changing our shopping habits as much as or even more than the shopping malls changed our shopping habits.

I grew up walking or taking a street car or bus almost everywhere I went.  At one place we lived there were three locally-owned groceries on our block and two store-front chains a bit farther.  At another place we lived there were three locally-owned drug stores in walking distance.

Now almost everything is chains.  The only locally-owned stores are restaurants, bottle shops, hardware stores, and some gas stations.  I really appreciate the few of these places where I can walk in, know the names of the people behind the counter, and be known by them.

Health care or wealth snare

The following are notes I took this morning on a presentation on health care fraud titled "Lifting the veil:  The Citizens Federation’s discoveries of financial mischief by insurance executives and regulators".  It was given by Buddy Robinson of the Citizens Federation at the Lake Superior Freethinkers meeting.

His talk was based on "Who Is Minding the Store", a report by the Citizens Federation.

Added up numbers and found that non-profits took profits.  Put into reserves which became excessive – twice the safe amount and four times the required amount.

Reserves went into investments which in turn increased reserves.  Insurance companies didn't report this to Minnesota legislature.

Several Minnesota counties are dealing directly with the state for employees' health care.  Some are now considering opening to public.

Strange things found about financial reporting.  CEO compensation reported at half actual - Health Partners

Money from state increased at greater rate than payments to providers.

Overpayment reimbursement not in contracts but if fraud involved then overpayments can be recovered.

Insurance companies don't want to divulge payments to providers.

State allowed companies to police themselves.

Motivation?  Medica contracts with former parent UHC, giving it 2/3 of income.

Insurance companies use government money to subsidize commercial policy losses.

Private insurance was to save money; it wound up costing a lot more.

Are HMOs too big to fail or jail?

End of my meeting notes.

So much for the efficiency of private enterprise.  Efficiency (sometimes) in lining corporate management pockets!

I gave as my comment Adam Smith's "The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order…"  See "The Invisible Adam Smith".

Read before signing

How many of us read all the details before we sign a document?  Few of us read software agreements and blithely click "Agree".  Sales people often say it is a standard contract as they wish we would stop reading and sign the damn document.

We are having our shaker porch rebuilt, and Wednesday a local lumber company delivered the materials the carpenter ordered.  The delivery guy stacked the dimension lumber all nicely in our back yard and I signed the order form.

Later I looked out and there was a new pile of cedar shakes.  I looked at the form and saw that the shakes were listed.  Probably the delivery guy saw the mistake after another delivery and came back.

There are honest people in the world, lots of them.

Limerick of the day - Corporate accountability

Poor decisions don't merit praise,


Just a compensatory raise,


Corp Directors deserve


A big raise for their nerve,

In weathering wan woeful days.

- Larry Eisenberg, a comment to "Little Accountability for Directors, Despite Poor Performance", Steven M Davidoff, New York Times, 2013-04-05

My comment to this article was:

"I read once that most of the stock in many companies is held by mutual funds and other financial institutions. They vote with management because of policies of 'fiduciary responsibility'. Individual shareholders who vote against overpaid management are just a minor nuisance."

Quote of the day - Diplomatic Imperialism

Remember when George W. Bush said that you're with us or against us?

Fareed Zakaria wrote "Washington ... has not yet figured out that diplomatic imperialism is a luxury that the United States can no longer afford."
- The Post-American World, Release 2.0, pp. 258-259

He concludes his book with the idea that we are an open, welcoming country but that our foreign policy is narrow-minded and paranoid.

Many are calling for Congress to compromise on many issues.  Maybe we should be asking Congress and the Administration to compromise with the rest of the world.

"The Post-American World" is a very good read.  Zakaria lays out all the pitfalls of assuming that economic and military might can mislead a country into thinking its "On top of the world and outside history".  On the other hand, Zakaria thinks that as the first "universal nation" (people of many origins and faiths) has a lot of strengths that can be harnessed to bring about a more prosperous, peaceful, multi-polar world.

Lead and "failing" schools

Public school critics blame "failing" schools on the teachers, but consider what the teachers may have to work with, especially with large classes.  Not only are there the cultural issues of not being interested in school, peer pressure not to perform, and homes where books are few or non-existent, but there is also the problem of too much lead in the environment.

"Too much lead can harm developing brains and can mean a lower IQ."

"Lower levels can reduce intelligence, impair hearing and behavior and cause other problems." "Lower levels" meaning lower than those leading to "coma, convulsions, and death".

And higher concentrations of lead are found in older or dilapidated houses.  And there are higher concentrations of older or dilapidated houses around "failing" schools.

See "More than half a million young children have lead poisoning under revised standard", Associated Press, 2013-04-04, published in the Washington Post and others.

If CEOs get incentive pay to turn a company around, why not give teachers incentive pay to turn schools around?

Job Skills Done Right

Many companies expect prospective employees to have the right "skill set" on day one and do absolutely nothing about creating prospects with those "skill sets."  "A recent study by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development found that the shortage of skilled workers is a chief concern among factory managers. But the study also found companies don’t offer competitive wages or train new workers to program today’s computerized high-tech factory machinery."

One company doing it right is E.J. Ajax & Sons Inc. of Fridley, a metal fabrication company.  Erick Ajax works with Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis to find interns, to sponsor scholarships, and to hire graduates.

See "Fridley family firm E. J. Ajax is a model for training", Dee Depass, Star Tribune, 2013-03-31

You get what you pay for!

Quote of the day: On top of the world and outside history

"Well, here we are on top of the world, and we have arrived at this peak to stay there forever.  There is, of course, a thing called history, but history is something unpleasant that happens to other people.  We are comfortably outside all of that I am sure."  Arnold Toynbee, historian, remarking about the atmosphere while watching a parade during the sixtieth anniversary celebration of Queen Victoria, quoted in "The Post-American World, Chapter 6, American Power" by Fareed Zakaria.

Apropos that, watch "ShiftHappens: What Do You Know?"  We saw this video this morning on a smart board at the administration building of the Duluth Public Schools.  It was part of a presentation on technology in the Duluth  Public Schools for the University for Seniors.  Although the presenters had all this high-tech equipment, they said American schools are still run as if preparing students for factory jobs in the 19th Century.

I think with our militarism, politicians beholden to certain business interests, and lack of investment in public schools we are behind the parade of history.

How is this blog doing?

Probably among my loyal readers, pretty well, all 20-30 of you and maybe rising.  Among the rest of the blogs in the world?  How about 29,082,475 sites being more popular in the last three months?  I guess that's what I get for writing what I damn well please:)  And as the name implies, irregularly.

This ranking comes from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/magree.blogspot.com.

This ranking probably accounts for my large Russian readership, often twice as much as my U.S. readership.  Supposedly there are a lot of reverse spammers in Russia who go to low traffic sites in the hope that the site owners will click on the link backs.  Нет, спасибо!  Пожалуйста, уходи!

For my more legitimate readers who like what they find here, please tell your friends or make references in your own sites.

Also you can give me an eyeful by taking the survey by clicking here.

So far I've only had one response.  Of course, I didn't help my cause by posting derogatory comments about surveys at Insecure corporations.

Why people don't save?

The inflation rate for Feb 2013 in the U.S. was 2.0 percent according to Bureau of Labor Statistics reported by http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi.  That is the annual rate projected from the inflation for a given month.

I just got my first quarter savings account statement.  The interest rate was 0.1 percent.

In other words, by putting my money in a local bank savings account, I am throwing some of it away.  If my account balance was $100 on January 1, then I would gain ten cents in interest but lose two dollars in purchase value by December 31!

Gosh, I remember when I had a savings and loan account in the late seventies, the interest rate was five percent "by law".  If you want to make more sense of "by law", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_association.  However, even that interest rate didn't cover the inflation rate, which varied from six to fifteen percent from 1977 through 1980.

That was a period of win some, lose some.  When inflation was "low", the net loss was "only" a dollar per year.  When inflation was high, the net loss was a whopping ten dollars a year.

Your homework is to find some period when savings accounts were a "win" for savings.  You might have to dig to get savings account interest rate beyond the last few years.

The only advantage that I see to a bank savings account is being able to walk in the door and withdraw a sum of money for some purchase.  It beats borrowing for that purchase.  And by paying by check or cash, you're depriving the credit card companies of their rake-offs.

Billionaire Duluth Native Buys Northland Reader

The following was my first April Fool submission to the Weekly Reader, then called the Northland Reader.  It is one that has been read several times on my web site; as of this posting it comes up second in a Google search of "duluth" and "billionaire".

Billionaire Duluth Native Buys Northland Reader
Melvyn D. Magree
Originally published in
Northland Reader
now called
ReaderWeekly
March 30, 2000
Revised
May 22, 2007 and March 31, 2013

Silicon Valley billionaire and Duluth native Nessuno Jarnowski Ingenvik announced today that he is buying the Northland Reader for an undisclosed price.  Mr. Ingenvik said that he is doing it because he would like to return to his roots, he would like to pay back Duluth for his upbringing, and he thinks the Northland Reader deserves a better fate than lining his mother’s parakeet’s cage.

Mr. Ingenvik made his fortune selling taconite pellets on the worldwide web.  He discovered that taconite pellets in the ears were an excellent hangover remedy.  One night after a bout of drinking grappa, vodka, and akvavit, some friends stuck the pellets in his ears as a prank.  Mr. Ingenvik woke up the next morning without his usual headache.  In fact, his head was so clear that in less than an hour he was able to draft a complete business plan for selling the pellets over the web.

One of Mr. Ingenvik’s first actions will be to move the offices of the Northland Reader from its cramped quarters in Canal Park to the penthouse of the Technology Village.  Mr. Ingenvik said that the move to the Technology Village will provide the synergy needed to expand the Northland Reader into an electronic media leader.  Furthermore, all the young interns will provide flashier, more iconoclastic content at far less cost than the current writers.

Mr. Ingenvik plans to create a web version of the Northland Reader by late spring.  He said that a cutting edge publication like the Northland Reader should have been using cutting edge technology long ago.

Publisher Robert Boone remembers Signore Nessuno when they were teammates on the East hockey team.  He said that Nessuno was known as the Ice Italian because he was so cool under pressure.  When he was asked about his future plans, Boone said he would think about them from his chalet in Switzerland.

Editor Richard Thomas remembers Pan Jarnowski when they were team mates on the Denfeld basketball team.  He said that Jarnowski was known as the Pouncing Pole because he would often grab the ball out of an opponent’s hands.  When he was asked about his future plans, Thomas said he would think about them from his condo at Waikiki.

Columnist Duke Skorich remembers Herr Ingenvik when they were team mates on the Central wrestling team.  He said that Ingenvik was known as the Slippery Swede because he was able to get out of some very difficult holds.  However, Skorich said those fond memories will never get him to move to the Technology Village even if they offered free brats and beer for lunch.

Columnist Mel Magree groused, “I guess I’m done here.  Nobody in Silicon Valley wants programmers over forty years old.”

Quote of the day - gun control and control of Congress

"However, the issue is no more how gun-control legislation will curb gun violence. The real concerns are whether the American legislative system is too crippled to take an action and whether vested interests of powerful lobbies can indefinitely hold hostage the legitimate expectations of the American people."
- M. Imran Hayee, "Lawmakers must rise above politics and craft sensible gun-control laws",
Duluth News Tribune, 2013-03-29.

When I accessed the article for its web address, I noticed at the top an ad:

"Gun control? Vote Here Now!"

I decided to at least check the ad out.  It is provided by Newsmax.  The title is "Gun Control Laws from Obama? Vote Now in Urgent Poll." The questions are rather balanced, although the one on the Second Amendment uses wording not in the Second Amendment.  Newsmax says it shares its results with a list of major news outlets.

To have your responses counted, you must provide your email address and ZIP Code.  I really don't care for polls, requiring my email address made not taking the poll even easier.

I wonder if a similar ad was posted by Google AdSense on this entry.

Freedom of religion means freedom of others to believe differently

Many are complaining that this or that law is impinging on their freedom of religion.  However, some of these same people believe they have a right to impose their religious views on others through law.

Those who wish to impose their views on law seem to forget a tenet of Protestantism - the right to interpret the Bible for yourself, not just take on faith what the church tells you.  So, why is one Protestant church telling another Protestant church how to interpret the Bible?

Nanny state or bully state

Have you noticed that many who complain about the U.S. becoming a nanny state seem to want the U.S. to be a bully state?

They complain about seat belt and helmet laws, want to do away with food safety regulations, and feel their rights have been trampled when they are stopped for a traffic violation.

On the other hand, some of these same people want every one to support any war the U.S. engages in, including having others do the actual fighting; they support the death penalty without any consideration of the fairness of the trial; and they want long prison terms for those who do things they don't like.

Quotes of the day - security, law, and liberty

“One is that certainty is the enemy of decency and humanity in people who are sure they are right, like Osama bin Laden and (then-Attorney General) John Ashcroft.”

“And secondly that for this country at least, given the kind of obstreperous, populous, diverse country we are, law is the absolute essential. And when governments short-cut the law, it’s extremely dangerous.”

Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist, Associated Press Obituary, Duluth News Tribune 2013-03-26

Similar thoughts include:

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"He that would live in peace and at ease, Must not speak all he know, nor judge all he sees."

Attributed to or written by Benjamin Franklin, http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin.

Locker room banter

Two guys were chatting in a locker room.  One said to the other, "Your fly is open."  The second responded, "I'm advertising."  I interjected with, "This is the wrong place to advertise."

Quote of the Day: "Everyone knows"

"If you hear that 'everyone' supports a policy, whether it’s a war of choice or fiscal austerity, you should ask whether 'everyone' has been defined to exclude anyone expressing a different opinion."

- Paul Krugman, "Marches of folly", New York Times, 2013-03-17

Pulltab predictions, mining, public interest, and bought politicians

I've been busy with submissions today.

The Star Tribune had an article today on the grossly overestimated projections for revenue from electronic pull-tabs.  See "Gambling firms drove flawed Minnesota e-pulltab funding plan", Jean Hopsensperger, Star Tribune, 2013-03-24.

I wrote a letter to the editor with the Adam Smith quote warning about laws and regulations being submitted by business people.

The Reader Weekly had a feature article by Jim Lundstrom, Scene Newspaper, about the opposition to the rushed, loose legislation in favor of a not-well-known company to mine in the Penokee Mountains in northern Wisconsin.  The opposition states that the proposed mining will be an environmental disaster that will make the area unlivable.  In response, I submitted "The Invisible Adam Smith" that I published last October.  Because the Reader Weekly republishes articles from several sources, they might republish this.  Besides, Bob Boone, the publisher and editor, occasionally asks me about writing something.

Gov. Scott Walker's desk sign, "Open for Business" was a clear warning of what was to come.  This was a clear statement in favor of those "who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public…"

Shale Oil - Bad then, good now?

When I read "U.S. Energy Independence Could Be Here Before We Know It", Tim Sprinkle, The Exchange, Yahoo! Finance, 2013-03-20, I thought of Jimmy Carter being slammed for his efforts to promote shale oil.  I did a search on "Jimmy Carter" and "shale oil" and found "The Great Shale Oil Swindle, What Happens When the Boom Goes Bust", Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, 2013-03-18.

His points are that companies are overstating the amount of oil and gas available, shale and oil production drops quickly, the "glut" of oil is depressing prices, and global oil demand may be dropping.  Adam Smith warned of capitalists deceiving the public; often they deceive themselves!

His sources include some credible newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times of London!!

Jimmy Carter was lambasted for looking at shale oil and now Republicans think we have energy dependence because of shale oil.

"Well, the truth is, no one in America did more for oil shale development and other alternative fuels development than Jimmy Carter and his Synfuels initiaitives. If you want some of the history, and why Carter's investment and tax incentive strategy failed, read here.  Basically, Reagan gutted energy research Carter started, including how to economically convert shale into oil. When the Iranian crisis ended and Saudis flooded the market with cheap oil, Exxon shut down its $5 billion Colony Oil Shale project in western Colorado, and the industry lost interest in oil shale. "
- Oil Shale and the ANWR: Stretching the truth, Charlie Quimby, "Across the Great Divide", 2008-07.

How often does politics boil down to "If we think of it, it is a good idea; if you think of it, it is a bad idea."

Who elected "The Leader of the Free World"?

Americans claim to believe in freedom and democracy.

Many Americans claim that the President of the United States is the Leader of the Free World.

When was an election held for the Leader of the Free World?  I certainly didn't see any results in the newspapers.

Who's in charge? Government, Corporations, or We the People

According to Steve Bhaerman, aka Swami Beyondananda, We the People have let government and corporations take control, just like a bad dog can control a family.  Like Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, believes there are not "bad dogs" but owners who are not good pack leaders, Bhaerman believes that we must become government whisperers, taking charge of government and corporations.  These entities are the tools of We the People, We the People are not the tools of government and corporations.

Cancer, diet, exercise, and hoaxes

A relative posted an article on Facebook supposedly from Johns Hopkins saying that diet is better than chemotherapy and surgery for countering cancer.  I do believe that diet and exercise are important parts of preventing cancer or recovering from it, but this sounded "too good to be true".

Sure enough, a search for "Johns Hopkins", cancer, diet, and radiation turned up "Cancer Update Email -- It's a Hoax" from The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of Johns Hopkins Medicine rebutting much of what it was in the email.

Emails such as this are a cancer themselves.  The Johns Hopkins article was last updated April 2009!! But the cancer of false information lives on.

Unlimited with restrictions: corporate doublespeak

Ad on Facebook:

Want to be Unlimited
sprint.com
Switch to Sprint for unlimited data, text and more.  Restrictions apply.

Duh!  If there are restrictions then the service cannot be unlimited!

I have Virgin Mobile on my iPhone, which uses Sprint towers.  True, I don't worry about how many phone calls I make, how many people send me unsolicited texts, and how often I am online.  In fact, accessing the web with the iPhone through a tower beats using sporadic wi-fi hotspots.

On the other hand, Sprint has dead spots where one wouldn't expect them, like on I-35 at mile 175 between Duluth and the Twin Cities.  That is a restriction and a limitation.

Cartoon of the day: elections and ID

See "Clarifying Recent Changes to Our Electoral System", Matt Wuerker, Politico, May 2012, reposted by The Coffee Party on Facebook, 2013-03-16.  Wuerker points out the inconsistencies for photo ID on voting in an election and buying an election.

Quote of the day: entitlements

"Indeed we do have an entitlement problem; some feel so entitled to power & wealth that they're willing to undermine our economy and our democracy."
- Annabel Park, founder of the Coffee Party

Click here for original.

Let's see!  Is the CEO of U.S. Bancorp entitled to $9,311,164 for 2012 compensation?  Or did he earn it?  Who decided this?  Did the shareholders or the self-selected board of U.S. Bancorp?  If Richard Davis earned it, did he do it with his own "hard work" or did thousands of employees contribute to the success of U.S. Bancorp and earned far less than one-hundredth of what he received.  If the latter, did they receive a bonus for their hard work?  Now these are the people who are entitled to better pay.

See "CEO pay watch: U.S. Bancorp's Richard Davis", Patrick Kennedy, Star Tribune, 2013-03-13

Insecure corporations

Ring! Ring!

Hello!

This is XYZ Corporation.  Would you like to take a survey about your recent experience with us?

No, thank you! Click!

Bing!  You have email!

Please take a moment to answer a few questions about your recent visit to our site.

Delete!

Do you have enough fingers to count the surveys you've been asked to take in the last month?  Maybe even the last week?

Your car repair garage wants to know what you thought after you had an oil change.  If you are regular customer, isn't that enough?

After you report a problem to Netflix, the truly friendly folks want you to hang on for a brief survey.  After you told them how helpful and friendly they were!

You visit a doctor for a preliminary visit before some minor surgery.  The clinic calls you to ask if you would take a brief survey about your visit.  Can't the clinic wait until after the post-op visit?  Even then, I'll tell the doctor whether I was pleased or not.

The big, bureaucratic insurance company I've been using for several years mailed me a survey about its service.  I just answered everything in the middle and sent it back.

It seems like the large corporations measure everything and know the value of nothing.

Quote of the day: Sex education

"There is a pawnish settlement in the south in which they do not teach their children anything of sex.  It is kept a great mystery.  The belief of this sect is that this ignorance will keep their children from harm.  As a result, they value virginity highly and it is virtually unknown among them."
- The True Game, Sheri S. Tepper

Pawns are those used by the big players in the Game.

I wonder if Tepper had some real-life places in mind when writing this.  Most of us are certainly pawns of many in Washington and on corporate boards.

Use and misuse of words: theory and hypothesis

"'I am taking what you have told me, and what is in this book, and what I have seen and heard, and making an imagining from them.'

"'A hypothesis,' I said, 'That is what Windlow called it.  A hypothesis; an imagining which might be true.'" - "The True Game: Wizard's Eleven", Sheri S. Tepper

How often have you heard an idea is "only a theory", for example, evolution?  Often others retort that gravity is only a theory, but don't walk off a cliff.

All of us should learn to use each word in its proper context.  A hypothesis is an idea that has some basis in facts, but not enough facts are known yet.  A theory is an idea that has a preponderance of facts to substantiate it.  The "four corners of the earth" was a hypothesis based on limited geographical knowledge.  A round earth is a theory based on so much evidence that few of us question whether the earth is round or not.

How many of us are going to use "hypothesis" instead of "theory"?  My hypothesis is that few of us, including me, are going to use these words properly.

Quotes of the day – governance

"That philosophy, simply put, holds that government is necessary and can be a powerful influence in making and creating a healthy social, economic and political climate." – "Opposing view: Reinert betrays values of the left", Will Munger DNT 2013-03-11

Will, a friend of mine, wrote this in response to "Other view: Minnesota at best when colored purple" about the "Purple Caucus", an attempt by Democratic State Senator Roger Reinert, Republican State State Senator Jeremy Miller, and others to work together to get something done for the benefit of the state.

I think Will is missing the point that the Purple Caucus was formed so that government works instead of having ideological purists demand the other see things their way.

The other quote is how polarization isn't addressing what most people want.

"Most of the country, it turns out, fits the mold of moderately conservative, a place from which careful, thoughtful change comes in a logical, rational, fact-based package that remains remarkably free of sound-bite-driven hyperbole." – Michael Charney, "Unconventional Wisdom: Barbara Olschner's 'The Reluctant Republican'".

Charney, a Coffee Party conservative, wrote the above in his article on Barbara Olschner's unsuccessful attempt to get the Republican nomination for Florida's 2nd District.  She came in fifth trying to be reasonable.  She wrote "The Reluctant Republican: My Fight for the Moderate Majority" about her experience.

My question to the Purple Caucus, Charney, Olschner, and others, when will this "moderate majority" show up at election time?

If corporations are people, tax them like people

When I lived in Europe, as a U.S. citizen I had to file and pay U.S. income taxes.  I received credit for any foreign taxes I paid.  If I paid more foreign taxes than I would have paid for the same salary in the U.S., Univac reimbursed me for the difference.  Of course, that reimbursement was also taxable in the U.S.

I think this still holds.

However, a U.S. company doesn't pay any taxes on its foreign earnings unless it brings the money back to the U.S.

If a corporation is a person, then it should pay taxes like a person.  If a corporation is not a person, then it should not be able to indulge in "political speech".

But if this leads to justification for not paying taxes, then consider that the corporation uses a lot of infra-structure paid for by taxes.  Should not a corporation pay for the roads that it depends on for moving goods and people?  Should not a corporation pay for the court system that it uses to sue others: corporations and people?  Should not a corporation pay for the military that protects its interests around the world?

Is this effort to avoid corporate taxes another instance of the deception and oppression of the public that Adam Smith warned about?  See "The Invisible Adam Smith".

Quote of the day: History and Religion

"I tell you, lad, that men will believe if one says, 'The Gods say…'  They will believe if one says, 'I had a vision…'  They will believe if one says, 'It was told me on a tablet of hidden gold…'  But if one says, 'History teaches,' then they will not believe."

"The True Game: King's Blood Four", Sheri S. Tepper

And men do not believe what their historical heroes say if it does not fit their own notions.  The Revolutionary General, George Washington, warned of "overbearing military" but men want the biggest military in the world.  Adam Smith wrote of the importance of labor but men want to only believe about his "invisible hand".  Abraham Lincoln spoke of "government of the people, by the people, for the people" but men only want to believe in "government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations".

Admission of the day - I goofed

Somehow I didn't put in the first line of yesterday's quote of the day, that is, the quote of the day.  I updated the entry with

"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." – Stanislas Jerzy Lec

I admit responsibility and have corrected the original entry.  My apologies to the five people who read it before I made the correction.

Quote of the day – responsibility

"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." - Stanislas Jerzy Lec

This was a quote used by Dr. Anita Nowak of McGill University in her keynote address at the program "Cultivating Compassion, Empathy, Leadership, and Social Change" at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, today.  Her speech was entitled "Empathic Action Rocks: Join the Movement That Can Change Your Life and Change the World.”

It was the only note I took because I couldn't keep up with her presentation and take notes, too.  I wanted to double check it before posting, but in doing so, I found the same thought a couple of centuries earlier.

"Aucun flocon de neige ne se sent responsable de l'avalanche." - Voltaire
"No snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche."

I think Nowak's point was that we should feel empathy for those who have problems whether we contributed to those problems or not.  And empathy is beyond sympathy; it is doing something to help solve another's problem.

Putting the quote another way, no one person taking water from a well will feel responsible for the well running dry.

A cap on exec pay!

Shareholders to have say in exec pay.  See "Swiss Voters Move to Restrict Pay of Executives", Raphael Minder, New York Times, 2013-03-04.

Hm!  Arguments have been that the responsibility of corporate management is to give value to shareholders and all else is unnecessary, including shareholders having a competitive list of directors to choose from.

Then why do so many executives take value out of the company without shareholders' approval.

Will the Swiss vote be an exception to shareholder apathy or the start of an economic revolution?

Spousal banter

My wife and I often follow certain traditional marital roles.  She does most of the cooking and cleaning, and I do most of the "heavy" lifting like lawn mowing and snow shoveling.

But not always.  Sometimes I cook and sometimes she shovels snow and often we help one another.

This evening while she was preparing dinner I ground coffee for after dinner.  When we were done eating, she said, "You may take the dishes to the kitchen, and you may bring the coffee to the living room."  I replied, "What?  I'm the lord of the manor and you're supposed to do what I say."  She went to the living room.  Oops!  The coffee is ready and I'd better go get it.

We've been friends, lovers, companions, combatants, and many other relationships for over fifty years.  Many times one decides to do something outside the house without much thought of the other's plans.  Many times we co-operate on planning an activity of a moment or for years.  Our vows did not include "obey".

What has sustained us in the give and take of daily life is knowing that the other is there "in sickness and health."

Your chance to comment on the Irregular Blog

I have chosen not to permit comments on this blog, but I learned that Google does have a survey form.  If you would like to fill out the survey, click here.

Thanks for your participation.

An expected by-product of rigid thinking

When I wrote "Quote of the day - Separation of church and state" I thought about how many groups with rigid thinking believe those who believe differently also have rigid thinking.  All the foo-foos, who have very strict ideas about being a real foo-foo, believe that all the oof-oofs have rigid thinking, even though the oof-oofs have a wide range of beliefs.

Some of the Lake Superior Freethinkers are what I call evangelical atheists and are ready to knock any church dogma with sweeping generalizations.  Many church dogmatists are ready to knock Freethinkers and atheists with sweeping generalizations.  The truth is that many church members and many Freethinkers have a more generous view of those with different views.

Quote of the day - Separation of church and state

The following quote was included by George Erickson in the Lake Superior Freethinkers Newsletter for March 2013.  I found a more complete extract by a Google search.

"Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and private schools entirely supported by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."
- President Ulysses S. Grant, Des Moines, Iowa, 1876
From "Ulysses S. Grant: the Separation of Church and School", Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles: The American Presidency http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9116880

The rest of the speech in the article is worth reading.  In some parts he sounds like modern Republicans, but in other parts he is far removed from what modern Republicans practice.

Wrong person, wrong street, but right broadcast

After I posted "Remember where you were when you heard…" I started thinking about the Wikipedia entry on Lillian Hellman.  The broadcast about the famous person's death mentioned her sister, but the Wikipedia entry on Lillian Hellman didn't mention a sister.  Then I realized I was thinking about Lillian Gish.  Then I started to rethink my location when I heard the broadcast.  The Crystal Post Office was not on 42nd Street but Bass Lake Road east of Broadway.

But my short-term memory is failing me more and more.  This morning I could think of the first names of a couple we sat with at a church dinner last night but I couldn't remember their last name.  And we've known them for years.  I won't go into the details, but a mundane set of unrelated observations set up the link in my head to their last names.

Coleen Rowley, Iraq War, and good quotes

I sent a note to Coleen Rowley about her op-ed column "Ten Years After Iraq" in today's Star Tribune.  I included a couple of the relevant quotes from Washington's "Farewell Address.  I also went to one of her web pages that included several relevant quotes.  Note that some of them are from well-known Republicans or conservatives like Theodore Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith.

Quote of the day: Republicans and Domestic Violence

Somehow I missed including this quote from Timothy Egan's "Science and Sensibility" in "Duh idea of the day - fair trial".

"Their position, in the apt phrase of the writer Melissa McEwan, is to 'protect the sanctity of traditional domestic violence.'”

An efficient private-public co-operation

I've written before about how well NetFlix and the Postal Service work together.  A couple of weeks ago I had a real surprise on how efficient that co-operation can be.

We returned a Netflix DVD on a Saturday morning.  On the following Monday, President's Day, a federal holiday, we received an email from NetFlix that we would receive the next DVD "on or about" Wednesday.  We received it on Tuesday!

I post these because I am tired of anti-government types who take a few incidents and blow them up to regular occurrences.  Any large organization makes many mistakes; consider my complaints about Apple and its many unsolved problems.  That doesn't mean that an organization that makes mistakes doesn't do a lot of other things well.  I've done a lot of useful things with my Apple products.  I just won't be in a rush to get the latest major upgrade of any of its software.  I'll wait until I have to buy a new device with the software installed.

BTW, DVDs by mail beat streaming.  Many call postal mail "snail mail".  Try streaming a movie any evening with a moderate speed connection.  A snail keeps moving.  A streaming movie can stop without warning.

Duh idea of the day – fair trial

"Oh, but bringing these brutes to justice in the jurisdictions where they commit their crimes would be unconstitutional, says Representative Eric Cantor, the House Majority leader. A jury of Indians, well — they’re incapable of giving a white man a fair trial. Such was the view expressed by Senator Charles Grassley, the mumble-voiced Iowa senator known for his 19th-century insight."
"Science and Sensibility", Timothy Egan, NYT, 2013-03-01.

Although Abraham Lincoln let stand some death sentences for the Sioux Uprising, he also commuted many more because he didn't think the evidence merited the conviction.  Could it be that these pardoned red men did not get a fair trial by white juries?  Can we be sure that those hung got fair trials?

In other words, according to Cantor and Grassley, it's OK for white men to rape red women, but not OK for red men or black men to get a fair trial for being accused of raping white women.

Remember where you were when you heard…

Tonight we watched "Julia" with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, a tight, engrossing movie about Lillian Hellman and her friend Julia.  I won't get into the veracity of the story, but I would like to mention my own personal incident concerning Lillian Hellman.  At the conclusion of the movie, I remembered where I was when I heard that she had died!

In the summer of 1984 I was driving on 42nd St. in Crystal, Minnesota when I heard a tribute to her on Minnesota Public Radio.  I was a block west of the Post Office.

I also remember where I was when I heard Jack Kennedy was shot, Walt Disney died, Marshall Dodge the Maine storyteller died, about 9/11, and 54 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange the day before.

BTW, what is your name again?

Thought for the day - Islamic history and militants

This morning I was listening to a Feb. 3 podcast of Sverige Radios "God Morgon, Världen" (Swedish Radio's "Good Morning, World).  It had a bit from a reporter in Timbuktu.  She quoted one of the residents with something like "Who are these Islamic radicals to teach us about Islam?"

Timbuktu is known for its Koranic University, madrases, and mosques.  See UNESCO's World Heritage List on Timbuktu.

The invasion of the radical Islamists seems to me akin to some militant Christian sect forcing everyone to believe Revelations to the exclusion of everything else in the Bible and church history.

Another "free marketer" avoiding "free markets", or attorneys chasing fees?

Suits have been brought against AB InBev for watering down Bud Lite.  See "Budweiser Sued for Watering Down Its Beer".

If true, this is another case of proponents of free markets not really believing in free markets.  The free market principle in question here is that both buyer and seller should have sufficient information to make a decision.  If AB InBev is indeed watering its beer to an alcohol content less than on the label, that is not only hiding information from the consumer but providing false information.

HOWEVER, in an interview by CNBC, plaintiff attorney Josh Boxer can only cite claims by former employees, not by independent testing.

Who do you believe?  Who can you believe?  All I can say is that I admire the tenacity of the CNBC on-camera journalists for trying to get a straight answer from Boxer.

Generally, one can believe that "liberal" NPR.  They had tests performed and found that the beers in question did have the alcohol level stated on the can.  See "Budweiser May Seem Watery, But It Tests At Full Strength, Lab Says".

My own guess is that Bud tastes watery is that it does not contain the amount of hops that craft beers contain.

Dred Scott and the Second Amendment

What does Dred Scott have to do with the Second Amendment?  The non-permanent status of Supreme Court decisions.

Dred Scott was a slave brought to Northern States by his owner and went to a Missouri Court to gain his freedom.  The case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court where the case was decided 7-2 against Scott; he was regarded as property and not a citizen.  See "Dred Scott v. Sanford".

The case was essentially overturned by the Fourteenth Amendment, which included "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Furthermore, there was a 8-1 Supreme Court decision supporting segregation: Plessy v. Ferguson.  The lone dissenter, Justice John Marshall Harlan "wrote that the majority's opinion would 'prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case.'"

"Plessy v. Ferguson" was overturned by the Supreme Court in "Brown v. Board of Education" in 1954 unanimously 9-0!

The Second Amendment was interpreted to apply specifically to individuals in "District of Columbia v. Heller".  The case was decided 5-4 with the expected votes each way.

This is a case of "activist judges" interpreting the Constitution to match their political beliefs.     From the "District of Columbia v. Heller" Wikipedia page we have:

Richard Posner, judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, compares Heller to Roe v. Wade, stating that it created a federal constitutional right that did not previously exist, and he asserts that the originalist method – to which Justice Antonin Scalia claims to adhere – would have yielded the opposite result of the majority opinion.

The text of the amendment, whether viewed alone or in light of the concerns that actuated its adoption, creates no right to the private possession of guns for hunting or other sport, or for the defense of person or property. It is doubtful that the amendment could even be thought to require that members of state militias be allowed to keep weapons in their homes, since that would reduce the militias' effectiveness. Suppose part of a state's militia was engaged in combat and needed additional weaponry. Would the militia's commander have to collect the weapons from the homes of militiamen who had not been mobilized, as opposed to obtaining them from a storage facility? Since the purpose of the Second Amendment, judging from its language and background, was to assure the effectiveness of state militias, an interpretation that undermined their effectiveness by preventing states from making efficient arrangements for the storage and distribution of military weapons would not make sense.[64]

End of extract.

Wikipedia has a good entry on the Second Amendment at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.

So, how do these cases tie together?  The decisions of the Supreme Court are no more permanent than the terms of office of politicians or the "to and fro" of public opinion.  Some years for now, "District of Columbia v. Heller" may be overturned by a different court or another Constitutional Amendment.

Pondering while wandering led to floundering

As I returned from a University for Seniors class this morning at UMD, walking on snow-packed and icy sidewalks, I thought of how parental advice can be problematic in these situations: "Stand up straight" and "Watch where you're walking!"

If you stand up straight, by looking farther ahead, you might not see a slippery spot at your feet.

If you watch where you're walking, you'll get a sore back and might walk into an overhanging tree branch or protruding shrubbery.

As I pondered these profound thoughts, I stepped off a curb at an alley, my boot skidded on some ice, and I went down on one knee and then to one forearm.  I didn't damage anything, but I soaked a knee of my jeans and my gloves.

Nobody saw me that I know of.  I picked myself up and continued the couple hundred feet to my house without any soreness.

I don't remember which advice I was following - "Stand up straight" or "watch where you're walking!"  Whatever, one of them didn't serve me well.

Spotting a non-Italian playing an Italian

Tonight we watched "Inspector Morse 23: The Death of the Self".  Chief Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis go to Italy to check on a suspicious death.  They work with an Italian detective who spoke Italian now and then to other Italians.  His Italian seemed to be Italian.

Then he answered a phone.  The Italian custom is to say "Pronto", that is "Ready".  However, he said, "Prahntoh", like we say it in the U. S.  We learned it as "Prohntoh" in Italy.

It could be that they say the former in Vicenza were the movie took place, but …

Well, I checked the cast and found Georges Corraface as the detective.  He is French and

"A classically trained and versatile actor, his gift for languages and his multi-cultural background has enabled him to work in eight languages and an even wider variety of accents."

Is "Prahntoh" used in Vicenza or did his extensive use of English make him lapse into the English pronunciation? Non so! (I don't know!)

Less tax for little work

I've started doing our income taxes for the year and had a pleasant surprise.  If I calculate the tax in a straightforward way, we will owe a few hundred dollars.  If I calculate the tax with the worksheet for capital gains and dividends, we will get a refund of a few hundred dollars!

This is surprising because our income consists of Social Security, IRA withdrawals, two teensy-weensy pensions, and capital gains and dividends.  Capital gains and dividends are less than a quarter of our total income.  Social Security is about half, but it isn't all taxable.

An interesting thought: Social Security is considered an entitlement, but the capital gains and dividends are considered our due.

We worked for decades paying Social Security withholding; we buy and sell stocks with a click of the mouse.  The capital gains are a form of gambling and really don't contribute to the economy other than providing liquidity for the market and fees for the brokerages.  The dividends are based on the profits created by thousands and thousands of workers providing goods and services.  And again, we didn't provide the capital for these companies; we bought it from someone else.  For providing market liquidity, we supposedly are "makers".  As Social Security recipients we are "takers".

Medical care: Free market or fee racket?

Today I found some links to stories about those who have no insurance pay for medical care many times what Medicare would pay.  A trite example is charging more for a single over-the-counter pill than the hospital's own pharmacy would charge for a whole bottle.

If you have a few hours to gnash your teeth, read

"Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us", Steven Brill, Time, 2013-02-20

"Healthcare Isn't a Free Market, It's a Giant Economic Scam", Mike Masnick, tech dirt, 2013-02-22

More fun with English orthography

The sow could not be a farmer because she cannot sow seeds.
The sow could not be a homemaker because she cannot sew beads.

As long as Robin Hood had his bow, he would bow before no man.
The Viking stood in the bow with his bow.

Fun with English orthography

Though he went through the trough...

For my readers around the world who might only read English but not listen to it, the above could be written (not officially)

Tho he went thru the troff…

Quote of the day - the Suzuki method

"Though the Suziki method has shown amazing musical achievements, Dr. Suzuki's primary purpose is not to produce professional musicians, but to develop every child to his or her highest potential, giving each individual a sense of self worth and sensitivity to others."

From the program for the Senior Benefit Concert presented by the Lake Superior Suzuki Talent Education Program, UMD Fine Arts Academy, 2013-02-03.

Bring on the sequester

I really would rather not say so, but I think the sequester might be a good idea in the long term.  It might really put an end to the arguments about smaller government.

Think about it.  If the number of air traffic controllers and checkin security people are cut back, it might make air travel by business people even longer.  If the amount of money allocated to states to clear the Interstate system of snow was reduced, it might make shipping by truck more expensive.  If the number of FDA inspectors were cut back, it might cut into the sales and profits of food processing companies.  If the number of customs agents were cut back, it would reduce the volume of imported goods that so many merchants depend on.  If the number of patent examiners were cut back, it would take even longer for companies to get patents.  If the number of Federal court employees were cut back, it would take even longer for companies to make their billion-dollar suits against their competitors.

Too many people ignore all the important services that government provides for people and corporations alike.  A sequester might lead to rude awakening that we can't do without government.

Solitary Confinement - George Will a Liberal?

I often disagree with George Will, but he generally shows a reasonableness in his writing and doesn't take an automatic dogmatic position on many issues.  He did so with his column "The Torture of Solitary Confinement", Washington Post, 2013-02-20 and republished in today's Star Tribune.

Will points out how psychologically damaging solitary confinement can be.  Ironically, it was the Quakers who were influential in creating solitary confinement as a way to help prisoners gain some penance (thus, penitentiary).  The colloquial "pen" wound up being more descriptive.  Will also compares the three known water boarding cases to the tens of thousands who are put in solitary confinement.

I used to think that the conclusion of "El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes)" was quite appropriate for the crime.  Now I have second thoughts, especially considering the number of people sentenced for crimes they did not commit.

Reminders from George Washington

Tomorrow, if tradition is followed, a U. S. Senator will read George Washington's "Farewell Address".  Correction: the reading is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Monday, 2013-02-25.  .Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, read it last year, and so a Republican Senator will read it this year.  Click here for more about this tradition.

No matter the party of whomever reads it, from Congresses past and current actions, I feel that Congress, and many others, politicians or not, ignore some very important parts of Washington's address.  Click here for the full text from the Library of Congress.

Here are some of my selections that I feel we as a nation have ignored:

"Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which under any form of government are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. "

"To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute."

"The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government pre-supposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government."

"However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism."

[The spirit of party] "serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.'

To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant…"

"…permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded and that in place of them just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest."

Synced calendars on Apple devices – the long chore is over

I don't know how many hours I put in over the last few weeks trying to get the same calendar events on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad, but it seemed one set back after another.  The latest was that iTunes gave a message that "the sync server failed to sync" a device.

I scoured the Apple discussion groups and other forums.  I finally got my final clues from one discussion and now have all my calendars with the same events (well almost, the iPhone has some extra, but that's another story).

My post when I got it working is:

I posted the following to "iTunes could not sync calendars to the iPhone "xx" because the sync server failed to sync the iPhone. What does this mean??" at
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15820680#15820680

I haven't seen it mentioned but the secret [in iTunes] is to

Sync only selected calendars
Select "Remove Calendars" from the popup window
(This is ambigous: from where are the calendars removed?  From the device being synced to)
Click apply.

Oops!  My memory is already gone stale.  I think I left no calendars selected, then clicked apply.  Then I selected the calendars that I wanted, then clicked apply.

In any case, I had a blank calendar on my iPad and then I had all the updated events that I wanted on my iPad.

Thanks to all who provided some of the essential clues to resolving this problem.

Video of the day - Elizabeth Warren on prosecuting big banks

In this undated video, Elizabeth Warren asks government regulators when they last prosecuted a big bank for violating the law.  They answer by saying that they settle with the banks who pay some penalty.  I recommend that you view this to the end for her zinger comparison to other situations.

Quote of the day - Corporate political contributions

"All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law."
- Theodore Roosevelt

Posted on Facebook by the Coffee Party.

For more, see the Wikipedia article "Tillman Act of 1907".

G.O.P. – The revenge of the Confederacy

Last week I mentioned to my wife that the Republican Party has been taken over by those still fighting the Civil War.  Imagine my surprise and delight when I say Harry Welty's latest snow sculpture - an elephant holding a Confederate flag in its trunk.  Harry also wrote a blog entry about the Southern takeover of the Republican Party.

Harry Welty is a local, maverick, wannabe politician.  He was a Republican Party member for a long time, but his independent mindset couldn't take the dogmatism any longer.  He now calls himself a Lincoln Democrat.

See also "Elephants sue GOP".

Elephants sue GOP

Elephants have sued the Republican Party for defamation of character because of its use of an elephant as its symbol.  The elephants' reason is they know it takes a village to raise their young.

Two snowflakes alike is possible...

…but how probable is it that any one person will see two snowflakes alike.

A snowflake consists of a finite number of molecules in a finite number of fractal hexagons.  A finite number times a finite number is still a finite number.  Maybe somebody has worked out just how large this number is.  Writing this at our cabin with a seemingly infinitely slow interconnection, I don't want to check it.

If we assume that there are a finite number of snowflakes, the next question is what is the probability that they will fall where one individual will see them together.  Or have photographed a large number and found two alike.

My guess is that if a person sees a snowflake today in Minnesota, maybe somebody in the Andes saw an identical snowflake over a hundred years ago.

In advertising parlance, the possibilities are endless:)

Notoriety not good for memory

It's a bit embarrassing when people say "Hi, Mel!" and I can't respond with their names.  I know I have memory lapses, and sometimes I should have known a greeter's name.  But with a little bit of hubris, I like to think that others have more reason to remember my name than I have to remember theirs.  My name is in print more often.

That doesn't mean that everybody in Duluth knows who I am.  I do know a couple of movers and shakers and they know my name, but there are probably many more movers and shakers who have no idea who I am.

I did write a column for the Reader Weekly, a regional freebie, for a few years, and once in a while I submit a letter or an opinion piece to the Duluth News Tribune.  I've led a few classes for University for Seniors.  And I do speak up in class a lot.  I think this combination makes it easier for others to remember my name than for me to remember theirs.

When people ask if I'm still writing, I hand them my card with the URL of this blog.  I think I've handed out far more cards than there are readers of this blog.  I guess most people find it easier to read the newspaper than to type a URL in their browser.

Critical thinking not practiced

"Last year the Texas G.O.P. explicitly condemned efforts to teach 'critical thinking skills,' because, it said, such efforts “have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”
"The Ignorance Caucus", Paul Krugman, New York Times, 2013-02-11

This sounds like something George Lakoff wrote about in "Whose Freedom? The Battle over America's Most Important Idea".  Lakoff thinks that the battle is between those who have a strict father model and those who have a nurturing parent model.

Fixed beliefs are held by too many wherever they are on the political map, but the Republicans have been ossifying into ever more fixed beliefs for over ten years.  They are even against some things they used to be for because those ideas don't fit the fixed belief structure they now have.

As for fixed beliefs, those who believe critical thinking can be taught, might read the critical thinking article linked above.  One cognitive scientist doesn't believe critical thinking can be taught.

Surprisingly, it was the last great Republican President who said, "As our case is new, so we must think anew."  New thinking does not come from fixed beliefs and parental authority.

I sang in public again

The Lake Superior Freethinkers had a Darwin Night at Beaner's Central in Duluth and had put out a call for entertainers.  I decided that, after a few years of being timid about singing public solos, I would give it a try with "Die Gedanken Sind Frei (My thoughts are free)", a centuries-old German protest song.  I have it pretty well memorized as well as "Arirang", a very popular Korean song.  So, I said yes and was put on the playbill.

Being in a house with a very good musician, it is kinda tough for a late-bloomer like me to practice.  But I did, doing two or three sessions most days.  Surprise, sometimes my wife said I did it well.

Then in the middle of last night, I forgot some of the words to "Die Gedanken".  I carefully thought through them and could recite them again.

I practiced a couple of times today and decided that was enough.  I didn't want to wear my voice out.

We arrived at the appointed time for performers and I introduced myself to the emcee.  She went over her introduction of me, we ordered some food, and waited for things to start.

I was second in the line-up.  I started getting fears about a "senior moment".  I was concerned about standing too close to the mike or too far away.  I think I forgot some words and had to go over them again in my head.

The first pair was done, both long-time musicians.

I was introduced and I climbed on to the stage.  I figured out just the right distance to speak into the mike.  I could not see the audience except as dark shapes.  I said most of what I wanted to say, and started singing: "Die Gedanken sind frei, Niemand kan sie erraten…"  My volume was good, my flow was good.  I think I faltered once.  Tah dah!  I did it and received hardy applause from the two dozen or so in the audience.

I introduced the Korean song "Arirang" with a few words and started belting it out.  Again I faltered a couple of times but recovered.  Again I received some hardy applause.  I made some more remarks about the song that I had forgotten to make before I started, got some more applause, and left the stage.

Then I got even more response.  My wife was pleased.  A choir director who I had sung with years ago said that I had come a long way.  A former professional musician was effusive in his praise.  A few other people gave me big grins and made appreciative remarks, some whom I didn't know, some whom I knew were musicians.

This has gotten me a bit more ambitious about performing, but I don't know if I'll follow through.  After all, I have all these books to read, blog entries to write, wood to cut, and software problems to figure out and correct.

Maybe if I can practice a couple of songs a day and get them memorized, maybe I'll stay up late for somebody's open mike night.

Quote of the day - Education

"To succeed, students must become thinkers, not just test-takers."
– "The secret to fixing bad schools", David L. Kirp, New York Times, 2013-02-09

I posted a comment to the article with the above quote and

"That sentence should be engraved in the head of anyone who wants successful students."

As of 8:30 this morning it had received 45 recommendations!  Gosh, if I could only have that readership here!

A former teacher replied to my post that I had beat him or her to a similar post and added

"As a teacher for 27 years, I know for a fact, that exam scores are the least important indicator of how well a student is learning."

147 comments have been posted to the article.  Three included that pre–school education may be expensive, but not as expensive as prisons.

I didn't post it, but many have written elsewhere that you pay something now or pay a lot more later.  It is often considered investing, but too many people don't think of government spending as investment, as they cruise down the interstate built with government money, as they enjoy a game in a tax-supported stadium, or as they have no concern about food-safety because of government inspections.

Across-the-board cuts are always a bad idea

To avoid making decisions, politicians and executives often talk about across-the-board cuts.  Not only are the cuts a bad idea because they rarely include politicians' and executives' salaries and perks, but because the cuts often include both the essential and the frivolous.

Let's take a family example.  Dad gets a wage cut because the execs decide there should be across-the-board cuts.  Now should Dad decide his family should have across-the-board cuts?  Is he going to cut the mortgage payment?  Is he going to take the bus instead of driving?  Probably neither.  Is he going to cut the kids' milk budget and his beer budget by the same percentage?  If he wants to invest in his kids' futures, he better cut his beer budget a lot and leave their milk budget the same.

Looks can be deceiving

When I see a picture in the newspaper of Christopher Jordan Dorner, I think of someone who one could swap lots of funny stories with.  It's hard to believe that he is a former LAPD officer who has gone on a rampage, killing at least three people and wounding others.

Apple's stock may go up

A few days ago I attributed the drop in the price of Apple stock to a problem that many iPhone and iPad users are having.  See "Why Apple's stock price went down".

Thanks to Candy in Apple Support I have the solution.

Candy listened patiently to my tale of woe about not being able to access some feature because of password problems.  She then walked me through the steps to resolve it.  What she pointed out was not in any of the published Apple solutions and was not even visible on my screen without scrolling down.  In 15 minutes or so, I had the problem fixed on my iPad and iPhone.

I thought I could fix the problem the same way on my Mac, but the applications and screens were not anywhere near the same as on the iPad and iPhone screens.  Fortunately, there was another discussion on the Apple forum that had the solution for the Mac.

If you need these solutions, see https://discussions.apple.com/message/21108977#21108977.

Support people like Candy are probably worth twice as much they are paid.  Too many companies have support people who use flowery language ("my pleasure to serve you") and too often have no real solution other than pointing you to a document that doesn't have the solution either.  People like Candy make a customer very glad they chose a particular company's product, and it is very difficult to measure their value.  I know her value to me was saving me more hours of frustration.

So if you are an Apple shareholder, I hope the news of Candy's help and the resolution of many people's problem makes the value of your stock go up.

Lobbyists trump common cents

The Star Tribune had an interesting article on Canada phasing out its one-cent coin: "Canada phasing out its penny; deems it a costly nuisance", Bob Gillies, Associated Press.  The U.S. has tried twice to do the same, but it never gets far in the House of Representatives.  "The U.S. zinc lobby has been a major opponent to suggestions that the penny be eliminated."

See also "Immigration and High-Tech Integration" for what Adam Smith has to say about special interests.

Just who is "The Media"?

I was in a University for Senior class on Social Justice this morning.  In one discussion, several people complained about "the media" not reporting many aspects of the news, for example, the number of civilian deaths in Iraq.

From my iPad, I searched the New York Times for "iraq civilian death" and received a list of over 31,000 articles.  I told the class this number and read the five headlines that appeared on my screen:

"A Grim Portrait of Civilian Deaths in Iraq", 2010-10-22
"W.H.O. Says Iraq Civilian Death Toll Higher Than Cited", 2008-01-10
"Civilian Death Toll Reaches New High in Iraq, U.N. Says", 2008-11-23
"Civilian toll in Iraq increased in November"
"Civilian deaths in Iraq decrease significantly in one month"

The text shown for the last gives the lower figure as 922!

I did the same search for the Duluth News Tribune; nothing was shown from its entire archive.  If I searched for "Iraq death" I received 17 items.  One of these from 2006-11-10 gave an Iraqi Health Ministry estimate of 150,000 civilian war deaths.

But we shouldn't fault the DNT too much for this lack; it is not a national paper like the NYT and focuses more of its news on local and state events.

Many of these critics probably watch TV news a lot.  TV news has the burden of limited time; the news given on a half-hour broadcast (oops!  22 minutes excluding commercials) is about as much as you can read in a newspaper in five minutes or less.  If your "the media" is TV; is it any wonder that you miss a lot of in-depth coverage?

My nationality is American

A favorite conversational item of many Americans is "What nationality are you?"  This happens often because we are a nation of immigrants from elsewhere or the descendants of immigrants.  But how is it that the nationality of someone from Canada is Canadian and from Australia is Australian?

One of my favorite comebacks is "What nationality is the King of Sweden?"  Following the male line back, he's French; he's descended from Marechal Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals.

As for me, my paternal grandmother is the only immigrant among my grandparents; she was born in Silesia, at that time part of Germany.  The other three were all born in the United States.  As I hardly knew my grandmother, I didn't have much German influence.

Of my great-grandparents, four were born in Germany, three were born in England, and one supposedly was born in Brooklyn.  More about him later.  I never knew my German great-grandparents, and we never had any German traditions in our house.  I only knew my mother's paternal grandmother, and the only thing English I experienced from her was tea, with Carnation milk!

As for the supposedly Brooklyn-born great-grandfather, I've found some indications that he probably was born in Liverpool, England.  Most of the records for him give his name as John J.R. Magree, but Brooklyn has no birth certificate for him.  I did find two Liverpool records for the child John James Robert Magree.  His mother may have been Irish or English, but his father was John Cornelius Magree, probably the John C. Magree who was the master of the Ship Ivanhoe bringing immigrants from Liverpool to New York in Jan 1851.  There was no John J.R. Magree in the passenger list.  Interestingly, on his marriage record, John C.'s father was Vinsent Magree [sic], Vincent Magree was in Baltimore in the 1830 Census.

Other than possibly John C.s marriage in Liverpool, I have found no ancestor that I can link to Ireland.

My only Irish link to the name Magree is from Magree's I contacted in Australia.  They can trace their Magree ancestors to Kilkenny, Ireland, and even to some specific pieces of land.

Interestingly, on one St. Patrick's Day, my mother said "We are Orange Irish".  Other than her in-laws, she knew nothing of my father's grandparents.

Having lived in Italy for two years and in Sweden for four years, I like to kid that I am more Italian than many Americans that call themselves Italian and likewise for "Swedes".

Why Apple's stock price went down

Many attribute the big drop in the price of Apple's stock to iPhone 5 sales not being higher.  Could it be that it really is that Apple is not paying attention to the problems of its existing customers.  With the introduction of iOS 6 for the iPad and iPhone, many people are having trouble using passwords that had been working fine.  This has been going on since at least September, 2012, and nobody from Apple seems to respond to the problems addressed in the "Apple Community" forums.

As I said in "Why Facebook's stock price went down", "it's software is too buggy."

I posted the following today at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4316010?start=30&tstart=0.

I think that this Apple ID/password mess is just too much bother.  I don't know how many hours I've spent researching the problem and trying some of the solutions.

Like many of you, I've wound up with multiple Apple IDs; let's call them A, B, and C.  If I remember correctly, I got into this because I forgot a password.  At the time, I remember that the only solution seemed to be to create another Apple ID.  So now I can get into iTunes with ID A, but almost everything on my iPhone, iPod, and iCloud are for ID B.  I know that a month ago ID B had a password in a short list.

With the upgrade to iOS 6.1 and maybe before, none of the recent passwords for ID B are acceptable.  If I ask to change the password for ID B, it will not accept my birthdate as the first security question and it will not always send me email.

Even though ID B is in the list of email addresses for ID A, there is no way I can use the ID A change page to change the password for ID B.

I think this whole situation violates the Human Interface Principles for iOS of consistency and user control.  See http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/Principles/Principles.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006556-CH5-SW1.

I've resigned myself to living without access to iCloud, with consistently clicking "ignore" or whatever when iCal and others ask for my ID B password, and a host of other annoyances.  I've already sent feedback to Apple.  I suggest you do the same at http://www.apple.com/feedback/, selecting iPad, iPhone, or iPod.  Maybe if a few hundred of us do this, Apple will come up with a better solution than the varied advice here that works in some situations and not others.

UPDATE: See "Apple's stock may go up" for the resolution of this problem.

"Makers" are takers and "takers" are makers

The "masters", in Adam Smith's parlance, claim they are the makers, the one's who get things done.  Or are they the "takers" who depend upon other people's work but take credit for it?

Adam Smith did write, "It is the stock that is employed for the sake of profit, which puts into motion the greater part of the useful labour of every society. The plans and projects of the employers of stock regulate and direct all the most important operation of labour, and profit is the end proposed by all those plans and projects."

In other words, if someone doesn't invest the capital, lots of things won't be done.  Would you be reading this on your computer if there hadn't been the capital to start a company that made a lot of computers?

Smith also wrote, "The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences [sic] of life…" and "The liberal reward of labour, therefore, as it is the necessary effect, so it is the natural symptom of increasing national wealth. The scanty maintenance of the labouring poor, on the other hand, is the natural symptom that things are at a stand, and their starving condition, that they are going fast backwards."

If there are no laborers, then there is no one to carry out the "plans and projects of the employers of stock".  Michael Dell may have been able to assemble computers in his dorm room, but he needed others to make the parts.  As his business grew, he needed others to assemble and ship the computers.

But how many CEOs started the companies that they head?  Very few. Most either came up through the ranks of management or were hired from outside.  They weren't the ones who put "into motion the greater part of the useful labour".  Thus, they are not the ones who make, but are the ones who take the work of others.  In fact, they often consider the actual makers as taking from the company and as such are disposable.

How many restaurant chain CEOs are cooking the hamburgers?  Where would the CEOs be if there were no hamburger cooks, no cashiers, and no clean-up crew?  If their companies have a good year, how much of their bonus are they willing to pass on to the people who made those profits possible?

We have at least one good example of the effects of treating well-paid employees as expenses rather than assets.  I saw Circuit City's demise coming when they fired all the high-paid experienced clerks.  These clerks made the sales; the executives took the profits of those sales.  See "Labor is not a commodity".