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  • Postcards into a Fearsome Future – A Dialogue with Evan Jones

    George Rebane

    The reader joining this dialogue thread in the middle may want to first read Evan Jones’ piece ‘Who Decides?’ on communicating climate change to the masses (published on Watts Up With That) to which I responded in ‘Who Indeed Decides?’ on Ruminations that drew a thoughtful reply from Evan Jones.  This piece seeks to address the remaining open issues in a more comprehensible manner that extends the scope of the original guest post on Anthony Watts blog.

    =====

    What a wonderful and thorough response – thank you Evan!  It appears that we may be in an even wider violent agreement than I had initially thought.  I’d like to address more completely your very hopeful and uplifting ‘postcard pedagogy project’ (PPP) and start by wishing you every success.  I hope that we can stay in touch enough so that I may see the fruits of this project and contribute to it in any way I can.  In the following I will try to 1) lay out a basis for the difficulties that all communications to broad audiences have encountered, 2) connect these difficulties to the global warming debate, and 3) generalize the same to the greater problem of a sustaining a democratic republic in the 21st century.

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  • Ruminations – 15mar2008

    George Rebane

    Blog does not have to register.  Blogger Art Segal (letorovalleyexcel.blogspot.com) of Oro Valley, Arizona had a brief but illuminating go-around with the town council.  Since he was vocal about which politicians he backed and opposed, the town leaders tried to stifle him by telling him he had to register as a “political committee”.  When the dust settled, the town was advised by outside counsel to leave Mr. Segal alone because “the blog does not raise or accept funds on behalf of candidates, it did not have to register.” Nevada County bloggers and governments take note as the election season heats up.

    Grass Valley’s Press Release is Delayed.  Answering my question about emergency responder and staff layoffs and bankruptcy rumors last Tuesday, Mayor Mark Johnson stated that the City would issue a press release in the next few days to clear up such rumors and set the record straight on how the current “financial stresses” would be handled.  Apparently this is a more complicated matter than it then appeared to the leadership of the county’s premier city.  To follow up I called City Administrator Jeff Foltz’s office a couple of days ago.  He has been too busy to return that call so I presume there’s a whole lot of wordsmithing going on to get the promised press release out.  Then again, since even The Union didn’t pick up on the Mayor’s words, perhaps there is nothing to be concerned about and we should all just forget about it.

    15mar08-2045 … and here developing next door in Auburn

    Max Hasting’s long-awaited Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45  has just been published.  Students of WW2 and 20th century history have been waiting for this revealing history of the war’s last year in the Pacific since Hasting’s Armageddon appeared four years ago.  In the latter work the celebrated historian gave an account of the European war from D-Day through the summer of 1945 (after VE-Day) revealing a view of what really happened that was not previously available in one coherent and tightly written volume.  It is a treatment definitely not recommended for those in whom that conflict has lain comfortably buried under a tombstone of three or four slogans learned in state-run public schools.  For the rest of us, the long wait is now over.   

    15mar08 – 2100 … Help the Nevada County Library.  Go to Martin Light’s Light on Nevada County for details.

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  • The Catastrophe of Compassionate Charities

    George Rebane

    A dear friend in the LA area is building a new orphanage in Haiti.  He has always had a weak spot for children in general, and when exposed to the plight of some of Haiti’s little AIDS orphans he responded.  He joined with another friend and partner to found www.wecanbuildanorphanage.com.  Being a sucker for such pursuits, Jo Ann and I have become supporters of this ongoing act of compassion.

    I am not trumpeting yet another charity that we support, but offering a candid and, perhaps, coarse examination of what could be argued as irresponsible behavior.  How so?  Well, that orphanage has been built in the middle of a dysfunctional culture and it will be totally dependent on the outside support that my friend is able to muster for it.  If ever he lets go, like so many similar efforts around the world, it will collapse.  The Haitian community cannot support it economically nor does it even see any necessity to keep it going.  The community’s job, it seems, is to continue supplying an endless stream of desperate toddlers for such an orphanage.

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  • Singularity Signposts – 14mar2008

    George Rebane

    You’re walking down a busy city street and stop at a window that is displaying what the sign says is a Han dynasty bronze lamp.  Intrigued about the beautiful artifact of a bygone age you want to know more about the Han dynasty.  Without moving your lips or making a sound, you form the words in your mind, ‘Wikipedia, Han dynasty’.  In a few seconds over your online iPod’s earbud comes “The Han Dynasty; 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the prominent family known as the Liu  clan. The reign of the Han Dynasty, lasting over 400 years, is commonly considered … “  Your silent access to the internet or your cell phone or any other voice activated device/system is made possible by a new throat pick-off that translates into silent speech the nerve signals going to your larynx.  These can then be converted by voice understanding software into commands for internet access, or directly transmitted over your cell phone.  You are now a walking talking version of a intellectually-augmented human, and this is only the beginning.  See a demonstration here.

    Internet AI-based avatars may soon re/act like real people  “Passing the Turing test–the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI), whereby a human conversing with a computer can’t tell it’s not human–may now be possible in a limited way with the world’s fastest supercomputer (IBM’s Blue Gene), according to AI experts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. RPI is aiming to pass AI’s final exam this fall …”  (more)

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  • Ruminations – 12mar2008

    George Rebane

    TV is changing.  It is merging with the internet, or is the internet merging with TV.  It doesn’t matter, with broadband connectivity that is not mediated by government, content will follow the eyeballs.  Take at look at this new service www.hulu.com .

    Global Warming: No Urgent Danger; No Quick Fix   With a nod to Russ Steele’s (NC Media Watch) tireless efforts to educate us all on the follies of anthropogenic global warming, this piece from Cato is worth a read.

    In "Global Warming: No Urgent Danger, No Quick Fix" Cato senior fellow Patrick Michaels writes: "Let’s get real and give the politically incorrect answers to global warming’s inconvenient questions. Global warming is real, but it does not portend immediate disaster, and there’s currently no suite of technologies that can do much about it. The obvious solution is to forgo costs today on ineffective attempts to stop it, and to save our money for investment in future technologies and inevitable adaptation.          

    Finally, I was amused to see how the few Spitzer defenders are positioning themselves now that the Great Eastern Moralist has been caught with his hand up a strange woman’s skirt, albeit one that was bought and paid for.  With the scandal less than 48 hours old, we are already told that it is time for New York and country to “move on and put this behind us”.  Holy cow! the tires from the screeching halt to this political poster boy’s career are still smoking, and now we need to move on?  If this guy had been Republican, we’d be just starting to sharpen the knives for an extended butcher job.

    As Mike McDaniel and I pointed out in the SESF report on affordable housing, government’s meddling in the housing markets has been a disaster for low-income Americans.  “Affordable housing” is a political definition at odds with what builders want to build and people are willing to pay.  If the community needs low cost housing (defined by the market) then let the builders, lenders, and buyers decide on the products that will serve.  Finally, it seems that Grass Valley’s social engineers are beginning to rethink the damage they have done to this community’s housing market with their 20% “affordable housing” requirement.  Last night’s city council meeting showed a crack in that façade; now they have to figure how they can back out with political hides intact – ‘peace with honor’.

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  • The GV City Council Responds

    George Rebane

    Just got back from the Grass Valley City Council meeting still in session.  During the early public comments/questions segment I was able to ask the council directly as to the truth of rumors that the city is planning to lay off first responders and staff, and possibly even consider filing for bankruptcy.

    Mayor Mark Johnson responded to my question and stated that GV, like many cities today, is concerned about its finances.  He cited that with the current economic situation the city is not at all certain as to the revenues it will receive, and is already in the process of reviewing what steps need to be taken to finalize the city’s budget and meet its financial obligations.  He also stated that he has received calls from the media regarding this situation, and that the City will issue a press release explaining the matter within the next few days.

    While not directly answering my question, one could conclude from the light-hearted manner in which it was received and responded to, that the Council clearly wants to communicate that such dire implications as significant staff cuts, let alone declaring bankruptcy, was not being considered.  I am sure that the upcoming press release will answer all remaining questions and put the matter to rest.

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  • GV City Council Meeting Tonight – Tuesday 11 March

    Lots of closed door sessions first.  Open meeting agenda here.  Will not be televised in realtime.

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  • Looming GV Crisis? – “…not much meat here.” says professional journalist

    George Rebane

    Last night Russ Steele of NC Media Watch posted a heads-up piece – ‘Developing story: Grass Valley is struggling’ – about the financial crisis looming over Grass Valley.   Yesterday saw a flurry of emails advising members of the BTA that GV may have a several million dollar budget shortfall that will require it to cut back city staff and services.  If last week’s news about Vallejo was the first shoe, then this portends the dropping of at least the other sock right here in Nevada County.  GV’s growing fiscal problems have made news before, but if true, this development seems to be a big step up or down, if you will, in its ongoing struggles.  Since we heard no one from the city confirm these reports, Russ emailed the Council members for confirmation and offered source confidentiality if it was needed to get information relevant to the developing story. 

    So far, there has been no confirmation, so the story’s status must remain as a plausible rumor – or as Drudge would report, as “developing”.  Keep an eye on NC Media Watch for timely updates.  Of course, the next City Council meeting this Thursday at 7pm should be a lot of fun for those who enjoy studying the political class in action.

    And all this did not evade the ever watchful Blog Bomber who promptly dropped a load of his wisdom on Russ’ piece to make sure that all unwary readers knew what was what.  As a substitute for wearing a garland of garlic around my neck to ward off similar sorties, I promptly declare that we have recently again contributed to the campaigns of Sue Horne and Nate Beason.  We did this in exchange for their promises to provide Jo Ann and me with more of the same favors and benefits that they faithfully delivered during their past terms as our elected leaders.  Keep a careful eye out for how all this continues to affect the uneven commentary on Ruminations.

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  • Ruminations – 10mar2008

    George Rebane

    Canadian Healthcare.  If you’re voting for a new president this November, then this short video is worth a look.  http://tinyurl.com/356v7m

    Everybody wins – both sides can use this little piece.  Here’s a video by Obama on defense that both Hillary and McCain can use in the coming weeks (supposing, of course, that Hillary still has weeks left).   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs 

    “In a massive disaster, care will be scarce. State guidelines lay framework for deliberately letting some people die.” – from the SacBee.  Worth thinking about as we consider how the county is planning to prepare for large scale disasters.  An LSE is one that affects everyone in the county; think dialing 911 and no one answers.  http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/753359.html

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  • Who Indeed Decides?

    George Rebane

    On Anthony Watts’ blog Evan Jones guest-posts a good article on the role of experts informing decisions made by non-experts.  I think Jones’ analysis and advice are right on the mark – mostly.  He almost finishes the article intact, but then concludes it with a leap into a large black hole of hope with –

    No matter how complicated an issue may be, it can generally be broken down into basic questions and decision points that can be expressed on the side of a postcard. But in order to do that, the layman requires unbiased advice, or at least the advice of both sides. For the expert to rebuke him with a patronizing “read a book” is an abrogation of responsibility on the part of the expert. It is not the layman’s responsibility to become an expert on every subject requiring a decision. Furthermore, it is a practical impossibility. It is up to the expert to explain his position simply, plainly, and in layman’s terms.

    Unfortunately, there is no evidence that such “side of postcard” informatics, generated by experts or anyone else, are possible “(n)o matter how complicated and issue may be”.  This is not only one of the fatal flaws in our legal system of trial by juries judiciously composed of the malleably ignorant, but also a prevailing myth of modern education that directly impacts our survival as a popular democracy.  That everyone can be taught (become sufficiently informed of) anything in a few sound bites scribbled on a postcard is blatantly false as demonstrated daily by almost every published survey, and reading a book is of no help to at least half of us (see the longitudinal study on the literacy of American adults).   

    What further chisels this myth into stone is the added dictum that if the intellectually less endowed doesn’t learn, then it’s automatically the teacher’s/expert’s fault.  With these immutable beliefs in place, the ignorant know they understand everything worth understanding, and then enter the voting booth with all the confidence of a child running into the street to retrieve his ball. 

    Broad understanding of the complex technical, economic, and social issues surrounding climate change doesn’t have a chance, else those little postcards would already have been written and tempered the growing emotional hype sweeping the world.

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