There are those who seem to be opposed to our use of drones. One reason is because of collateral deaths and injuries that occur in some/many cases. It is said that our use of drones turn people against us. But if we used fighter bombers or helicopter gunships would we really have fewer collateral deaths and injuries? And what if one or more of the fighter bombers or helicopter gunships was shot down. Is it more moral if some of our troops die?
So would "boots on the ground" be any better? Sometimes a troop goes berserk and just kills people or the wrong people are killed. And then there are the children who are left behind who because of their mixed heritage are not accepted by the local communities. The mothers perhaps become religious outcasts. Would any of these really make us any friends.
Or should we do nothing and let those who wish us ill just plan their attacks against us. Would the local communities stop the attacks against us planned by terrorists ? Would these people in foreign lands housing terrorists like us any better?
As to the domestic use of attack drones, I would hate to see their use outlawed. Take the recent case of Christopher Dorner, the fired policeman in California who ended up killing three people and, in the man hunt, shot two policeman, killing one of them .* Dorner refused to surrender, vowed to take down as many policeman as he could and eventually died in a fire, but took his own life first. Wouldn't it have been better to have taken him out with a drone, rather than risking the lives of so many police?
* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/16/dorner-manhunt_n_2701064.html
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
HUMAN LONGEVITY: IS THE JURY STILL OUT?
What is the meaning of human life? My answer is that human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens) are an experiment by nature to see if an animal capable of rational thought can survive and that the jury is still out on that. Perhaps you say that human beings will be around for a long time. But that is in a human time frame. In geological terms, we are still at the beginning of the beginning. The genus Homo originated only about 2.3 m.y. ago. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human) Can we even make another million years?
Consider the cockroach which has been around for 350 m.y. and you will see what I mean. (https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/13ee3c8f4ee1fd94?compose=13ee7c4b633889c9) The horseshoe crab has been around even longer at 445 m.y. (http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-oldest-living-animal-species-on-earth.htm#slideshow) If you want to go beyond major animals, the longest living thing is probably the cyanobacteria at 2.9 b.y. (billion years). and jelly fish are no slouch at 505 m.y. (http://www.ranker.com/list/the-top-10-oldest-living-things-on-earth/analise.dubner?format=SLIDESHOW&page=1) Even sturgeon have been around for about 200 m.y.
And remember the next time you are eating chicken, you are eating a dinosaur. (http://www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/birds-are-dinosaurs)
Sunday, May 19, 2013
ON BEING IN AN ACTING POSITION
I feel sorry for the Acting Commissioner Stephen T. Miller, a 25 yr career IRS employee, who has been forced to leave the IRS. Believe me being in any acting capacity is hazardous. I know from experience. Though you have the authority to run something, those under you may not accept you, if so they can make your life hell, and you are hesitant to do anything big because it should be left to the "permanent" official. Acting Commissioner Miller assumed his position only last November, after the scandal had been made, though he knew about it in May of 2012 when he was the Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.
The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/politics/irs-conservative-targeting/index.html)
For unknown reasons, Obama has not tried to fill the Commissioner of the IRS position during his administration. Actually, Miller was going to have to vacate his 210-day position on June 8th because of the term limit on acting (Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998) though he had planned to return to his former position and maybe run the IRS from that. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/resignation-fired-irs-commissioner-planned-leave-post-june/story?id=19193192#.UZkX3bKF90A)
The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/politics/irs-conservative-targeting/index.html)
For unknown reasons, Obama has not tried to fill the Commissioner of the IRS position during his administration. Actually, Miller was going to have to vacate his 210-day position on June 8th because of the term limit on acting (Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998) though he had planned to return to his former position and maybe run the IRS from that. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/resignation-fired-irs-commissioner-planned-leave-post-june/story?id=19193192#.UZkX3bKF90A)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
BENGHAZI, THE IRS, & THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISSA's ISSUE Frankly, I can't get excited about the endless attacks about what the Benghazi disaster was called for several days or a week after it happened. I think that calling it a terrorist attack or a violent demonstration is a fine point. Attacks on U.S. Embassies and Consulates have gone on for a long time, including 7 during the presidency of George W. Bush with many deaths and injuries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Benghazi_attack) I suspect that terrorists are laughing themselves silly about how this small attack in a backwater of Libya is tying our government into knots. What appears to be a good, almost blow by blow account of the Benghazi disaster, appears at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Benghazi_attack for those interested. It may even come as a surprise that 6 state department members were rescued and 30 other Americans evacuated.
Now, I would like to see an early assessment how the 29 State Department security improvement recommendations are coming along. Granted it is early days being less than five months since the recommendations were made, but some recommendations were probably easy to implement but others take a long time. "The Marine Corps, for example, has said it would take years to assign more of its troops to embassy and consulate staffs." (http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/12/tp-gop-skeptical-about-diplomatic-security-efforts/)
THE IRS and 501.C4 ORGANIZATIONS This item concerns the IRS review of the qualifications of 501.C4 organizations with the words Tea Party of Liberty in their title. Since the Supreme Court ruling that companies are people in the Citizens United case, a plethora of organizations have applied for 501.C4 status. This status is for Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees. Perhaps the most famous 501.C4 organization is the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU. Though these organizations must be non-profit, donors cannot take a tax deduction for donations to them. These organizations can participate in political actions (e.g. TV ads) and lobbying, as long as the main business of the organization is for social welfare, but any advocacy of a political candidate is taxable. A main attraction of the new organizations for this status appears to be that the names of donors need not be revealed. Apparently these organizations do not have to have pre-approval by the IRS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)_organization#501.28c.29.284.29)
It is easy to believe that the 501.C4 status is abused. Recently it was admitted that the IRS was investigating "harassing" new organizations with Tea Party and Liberty in their titles though most applicants were eventually granted. There is a claim that the investigations of conservative groups went much farther than these two titles (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/irs-scrutiny-went-beyond-tea-party-criteria-broader-than-thought/) Although I feel that every administration does this sort of thing, I think it is not right, and it would be good if somehow something could be done to do away with targeting of political organizations for harassment. Though I don't view this with the righteous indignation of many politicians, current thought is that this may be the most serious action of the three items considered here.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) PHONE RECORDS Personally, I think that the case of the subpoenas of reporter's work and home phone records is the most serious item in view that it seems to violate the DOJ's own guidelines. (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/05/ap-phone-record-scandal-justice-department-law.html). Though this may not be as bad as wire tapping without a warrant (which is allowed in some cases by the Patriot Act.*), it is pretty close. We will have to see how this plays out, but I'm not very sympathetic about such intimidation of news sources. There have been cases of reporters going to jail to protect their sources.
Because of my contact with Soviet scientists in the early and mid 1970s, I assumed that my phone was being tapped for many years, and I don't know what else. If so, I doubt they found anything of interest. In fact I felt much better when detente was over, and we were no longer sort of friends again with the Soviet Union.
* http://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-usa-patriot-act
Now, I would like to see an early assessment how the 29 State Department security improvement recommendations are coming along. Granted it is early days being less than five months since the recommendations were made, but some recommendations were probably easy to implement but others take a long time. "The Marine Corps, for example, has said it would take years to assign more of its troops to embassy and consulate staffs." (http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/12/tp-gop-skeptical-about-diplomatic-security-efforts/)
THE IRS and 501.C4 ORGANIZATIONS This item concerns the IRS review of the qualifications of 501.C4 organizations with the words Tea Party of Liberty in their title. Since the Supreme Court ruling that companies are people in the Citizens United case, a plethora of organizations have applied for 501.C4 status. This status is for Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees. Perhaps the most famous 501.C4 organization is the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU. Though these organizations must be non-profit, donors cannot take a tax deduction for donations to them. These organizations can participate in political actions (e.g. TV ads) and lobbying, as long as the main business of the organization is for social welfare, but any advocacy of a political candidate is taxable. A main attraction of the new organizations for this status appears to be that the names of donors need not be revealed. Apparently these organizations do not have to have pre-approval by the IRS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)_organization#501.28c.29.284.29)
It is easy to believe that the 501.C4 status is abused. Recently it was admitted that the IRS was investigating "harassing" new organizations with Tea Party and Liberty in their titles though most applicants were eventually granted. There is a claim that the investigations of conservative groups went much farther than these two titles (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/irs-scrutiny-went-beyond-tea-party-criteria-broader-than-thought/) Although I feel that every administration does this sort of thing, I think it is not right, and it would be good if somehow something could be done to do away with targeting of political organizations for harassment. Though I don't view this with the righteous indignation of many politicians, current thought is that this may be the most serious action of the three items considered here.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) PHONE RECORDS Personally, I think that the case of the subpoenas of reporter's work and home phone records is the most serious item in view that it seems to violate the DOJ's own guidelines. (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/05/ap-phone-record-scandal-justice-department-law.html). Though this may not be as bad as wire tapping without a warrant (which is allowed in some cases by the Patriot Act.*), it is pretty close. We will have to see how this plays out, but I'm not very sympathetic about such intimidation of news sources. There have been cases of reporters going to jail to protect their sources.
Because of my contact with Soviet scientists in the early and mid 1970s, I assumed that my phone was being tapped for many years, and I don't know what else. If so, I doubt they found anything of interest. In fact I felt much better when detente was over, and we were no longer sort of friends again with the Soviet Union.
* http://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-usa-patriot-act
Friday, May 10, 2013
DONATIONS TO WEST, TEXAS, DISASTER RELIEF
The West, Texas, explosion disaster has largely gone unnoticed in the media while there has been supersaturation of news about the Boston Bombers and the wonderful amount of donations to the disaster relief. Please remember that there were more deaths (14) at West, TX, than at the Boston Marathon and more damage, including a hospital and a number of square blocks of houses and other buildings, bad as the Boston Marathon was. If you would like to donate to a fund for the West, Texas, disaster relief, go to: http://www.wacofoundation.org/NewsEvents/ViewArticle/tabid/164/smid/605/ArticleID/82/reftab/36/Default.aspx.
Note added later on the 10th of May: It has been announced that a criminal investigation will be made of the blast of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100727597
Disclaimer: I am just sympathetic to the people of West, Texas, and do not live there or in Texas either. I do not know anyone at West, Texas. I have made a donation to their disaster relief. I am not affiliated with the Waco Foundation in any way.
Note added later on the 10th of May: It has been announced that a criminal investigation will be made of the blast of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100727597
Disclaimer: I am just sympathetic to the people of West, Texas, and do not live there or in Texas either. I do not know anyone at West, Texas. I have made a donation to their disaster relief. I am not affiliated with the Waco Foundation in any way.
Monday, May 6, 2013
MORE ON OIL
The price of oil has recovered since 2010 to above $90/bbl in current dollars.The figure above is from:
http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/john_mauldins_outside_the_box/archive/2011/09/06/things-tha t-make-you-go-hmmm.aspx
Global oil production (scroll down to the figure below) was falling to some extent because OPEC had not yet picked up the drop in production from Libya.
For oil production by country, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production. Note that U.S. states are inserted at the appropriate production level. Texas, for example would be equivalent to number 15 in production of countries. The U.S. itself is number three.
Because of additional production from frack oil, imports of oil by the U.S. have fallen to the lowest level since 1997 at 8.5 million barrels/day. Also because of frack oil, imports of light sweet crude oil are falling markedly. The two foreign countries most involved are Nigeria (imports fallen about in half) and Angola imports have fallen to 39% of the 2008 value. Imports of heavy oil from Saudi Arabia, however, have actually risen and was 1.4 million barrels a day, the highest level since 2008. Iraqi imports rose 3% and Venezuelan imports were up 4% from 2011 values. The Keystone XL pipeline would transmit mainly heavy oil and would reduce our dependence on Saudi oil and Middle Eastern oil in general. (http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/05/04/us-oil-imports-are-falling-but-reliance-on-these-c.aspx).
Global oil production (scroll down to the figure below) was falling to some extent because OPEC had not yet picked up the drop in production from Libya.
For oil production by country, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production. Note that U.S. states are inserted at the appropriate production level. Texas, for example would be equivalent to number 15 in production of countries. The U.S. itself is number three.
Because of additional production from frack oil, imports of oil by the U.S. have fallen to the lowest level since 1997 at 8.5 million barrels/day. Also because of frack oil, imports of light sweet crude oil are falling markedly. The two foreign countries most involved are Nigeria (imports fallen about in half) and Angola imports have fallen to 39% of the 2008 value. Imports of heavy oil from Saudi Arabia, however, have actually risen and was 1.4 million barrels a day, the highest level since 2008. Iraqi imports rose 3% and Venezuelan imports were up 4% from 2011 values. The Keystone XL pipeline would transmit mainly heavy oil and would reduce our dependence on Saudi oil and Middle Eastern oil in general. (http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/05/04/us-oil-imports-are-falling-but-reliance-on-these-c.aspx).
Saturday, May 4, 2013
ANIMAL ADVERTISEMENTS & A FEW OTHERS
I have written previously on embarrassing advertisements that I wish I have never seen (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/03/wish-i-hadnt-seen-that.html), but I should add that there are nice advertisements also, particularly those featuring animals.
Animals
We need to remember, however, that an advertisement that catches the public attention but where they don't remember the brand being advertised is a failure. This happened long ago when in 1948 there were advertisements of dancing and marching cigarettes. The public was entranced by them, but many people couldn't tell what the brand of cigarettes being advertised was, even though Lucky Strike was prominently mentioned and a package was pictured. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4d4m47krRg).
Perhaps the first cute animal advertisement is the Aflac duck that started in 1999 and has gone though 59 iterations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflac). AFLAC stands for American Family Life Assurance Company that sells supplemental insurance. The man who provided the original voice for the duck was fired (see reference) so the duck hurt his wing and beak. The beak is wrapped in a bandage so the duck cannot talk. But a nurse mentions lunch which brightens the ducks eyes. Then he is served lunch though he cannot open his beak (http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/spot-lame-duck-147210). This led to the duck recovering from his injuries and taking physical therapy, which I think is the funniest advertisement ever. I cringe seeing the duck do wing strengthening exercises and love it when it jumps rope (see http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/04/01/2446674/hes-a-survivor-aflac-duck-tackles.html, scroll to bottom to get the advertisement). One site says the duck has received 35,000 get well cards. His Facebook page has 368,740 followers (https://www.facebook.com/aflacduck) .
The insurance company Geico started using THE cute gecko during the 2000 TV season. He has gone though many iterations over the 13 years he has been used. Of course the gecko has one Facebook page with 300,000 followers (https://www.facebook.com/thegeicogecko) and another with 306,000 followers (https://www.facebook.com/geico). GEICO, however, seems to have felt the need for something new, so they have started a new series using a pig. For unknown reasons, the advertisements using the pig don't appeal to me like those with the gecko do. But some people are really offended (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/one-million-moms-geico-pig-commercial-bestiality_n_2765040.html).
Recently, Residence Inn has gotten into the animal advertisements also. I believe all were released in March of 2012. The best one is of the cute little penguin family (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0vItCgIjGg). One brief scene shows one of the penguins in front of the open freezer door with the background voice saying "Room to chill." The first one I saw was Stanley the giraffe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEhLVwK5uCQ) to demonstrate the spaciousness of their rooms. All the animal advertisements have the animals doing impossible things for them. Stanley apparently ties a tie and puts a notebook computer into a case and carries it. Last is the elephant, again showing the spaciousness of the rooms (But the best one is of the cute little penguins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0vItCgIjGg)).
Others
Probably my favorite advertisement was of "Jack" making an Alka-Seltzer advertisement:
In an Alka-Seltzer commercial from 1969, an actor (played by Jack Somack[7]) in a commercial for the fictional product "Magdalini's Meatballs" has to eat a meatball and then say "Mamma mia, that's-a spicy meat ball-a!" in an ersatz Italian accent. Take after take is ruined by some comedic trial or another. By the commercial's end, "Jack" has eaten so many meatballs that it's "Alka Seltzer to the rescue". With his stomach settled, Jack does a perfect take, except that the oven door falls off. The director (off-camera) sighs and says, "OK, let's break for lunch." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alka-Seltzer) Unfortunately, Frank Sinata felt this advertisement made fun of Italian Americans and the advertisements were withdrawn.
The Target Falling for Fall advertisement of falling people (http://www.stylebistro.com/Fashion+News/articles/GLXS9WB9-gt/Watch+Behind+Scenes+Target+Falling+Fall+Commercial)
What probably isn't a good commercial, because I don't remember the product being advertised (actually Time Warner Cable), is the woman cleaning a house with zombie's apparently all over the place. At the end, the woman peers into the living room where her husband is reading a book and there are all sorts of body parts laying about (http://www.eurweb.com/2013/02/the-walking-dead-commercial-likened-to-congress-watch/). She says to the husband, "Clean this up." as she makes a circular motion with her finger The final scene really grabs me. I always un-mute the TV to see her do this. For completeness, another poor commercial (since I couldn't tell you what it is selling) that is not cute (or so I think) is the baby dragon commercial introduced in April of 2013 by Time-Warner Cable (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv6EjhZ5bd4).
Animals
We need to remember, however, that an advertisement that catches the public attention but where they don't remember the brand being advertised is a failure. This happened long ago when in 1948 there were advertisements of dancing and marching cigarettes. The public was entranced by them, but many people couldn't tell what the brand of cigarettes being advertised was, even though Lucky Strike was prominently mentioned and a package was pictured. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4d4m47krRg).
Perhaps the first cute animal advertisement is the Aflac duck that started in 1999 and has gone though 59 iterations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflac). AFLAC stands for American Family Life Assurance Company that sells supplemental insurance. The man who provided the original voice for the duck was fired (see reference) so the duck hurt his wing and beak. The beak is wrapped in a bandage so the duck cannot talk. But a nurse mentions lunch which brightens the ducks eyes. Then he is served lunch though he cannot open his beak (http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/spot-lame-duck-147210). This led to the duck recovering from his injuries and taking physical therapy, which I think is the funniest advertisement ever. I cringe seeing the duck do wing strengthening exercises and love it when it jumps rope (see http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/04/01/2446674/hes-a-survivor-aflac-duck-tackles.html, scroll to bottom to get the advertisement). One site says the duck has received 35,000 get well cards. His Facebook page has 368,740 followers (https://www.facebook.com/aflacduck) .
The insurance company Geico started using THE cute gecko during the 2000 TV season. He has gone though many iterations over the 13 years he has been used. Of course the gecko has one Facebook page with 300,000 followers (https://www.facebook.com/thegeicogecko) and another with 306,000 followers (https://www.facebook.com/geico). GEICO, however, seems to have felt the need for something new, so they have started a new series using a pig. For unknown reasons, the advertisements using the pig don't appeal to me like those with the gecko do. But some people are really offended (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/one-million-moms-geico-pig-commercial-bestiality_n_2765040.html).
Recently, Residence Inn has gotten into the animal advertisements also. I believe all were released in March of 2012. The best one is of the cute little penguin family (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0vItCgIjGg). One brief scene shows one of the penguins in front of the open freezer door with the background voice saying "Room to chill." The first one I saw was Stanley the giraffe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEhLVwK5uCQ) to demonstrate the spaciousness of their rooms. All the animal advertisements have the animals doing impossible things for them. Stanley apparently ties a tie and puts a notebook computer into a case and carries it. Last is the elephant, again showing the spaciousness of the rooms (But the best one is of the cute little penguins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0vItCgIjGg)).
Others
Probably my favorite advertisement was of "Jack" making an Alka-Seltzer advertisement:
In an Alka-Seltzer commercial from 1969, an actor (played by Jack Somack[7]) in a commercial for the fictional product "Magdalini's Meatballs" has to eat a meatball and then say "Mamma mia, that's-a spicy meat ball-a!" in an ersatz Italian accent. Take after take is ruined by some comedic trial or another. By the commercial's end, "Jack" has eaten so many meatballs that it's "Alka Seltzer to the rescue". With his stomach settled, Jack does a perfect take, except that the oven door falls off. The director (off-camera) sighs and says, "OK, let's break for lunch." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alka-Seltzer) Unfortunately, Frank Sinata felt this advertisement made fun of Italian Americans and the advertisements were withdrawn.
The Target Falling for Fall advertisement of falling people (http://www.stylebistro.com/Fashion+News/articles/GLXS9WB9-gt/Watch+Behind+Scenes+Target+Falling+Fall+Commercial)
What probably isn't a good commercial, because I don't remember the product being advertised (actually Time Warner Cable), is the woman cleaning a house with zombie's apparently all over the place. At the end, the woman peers into the living room where her husband is reading a book and there are all sorts of body parts laying about (http://www.eurweb.com/2013/02/the-walking-dead-commercial-likened-to-congress-watch/). She says to the husband, "Clean this up." as she makes a circular motion with her finger The final scene really grabs me. I always un-mute the TV to see her do this. For completeness, another poor commercial (since I couldn't tell you what it is selling) that is not cute (or so I think) is the baby dragon commercial introduced in April of 2013 by Time-Warner Cable (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv6EjhZ5bd4).
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