Clebrating John Glenn's Space Launch

Regretfully, this is really a memorial service. Fifty years on, Glenn's flight remains a giant leap. We like to make many prostrations on how the US is the greatest Nation on earth. When you only have past accomplishments to celebrate instead of new accomplishments you are on a downhill slide.

American People Hire High-Powered Lobbyist To Push Interests In Congress

My daughter just sent me this Onion tongue and cheek article: "American People Hire High-Powered Lobbyist To Push Interests In Congress".  Humor can be a very powerful tool that exposes the hypocrisy of today's politicians.

In announcing the hiring of Jack Weldon the Onion noted that: "His daily presence in the Capitol will ensure the American people finally get a seat at the table," the statement continued. "And it will allow him to advance our message that everyone, including Americans, deserves to be represented in Washington."

The Onion also noted that that: "Before today, I'd actually never heard of this group," Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters. "But if Jack says they're worth my time, I'll take a look and see if maybe there are some areas where our interests overlap."

Deficit Allegory - Theater of the Abusrd

Obama's proposed budget is nothing but smoke and mirrors to promote a "bread and circuses" economy.  Unfortunately some in the news media seems to be deficient in the critical analytical skills necessary to expose what is happening. Maybe some these individuals lack the to will to be independent and prefer to blindly regurgitate the Democratic party line.

Obama is the head of a household.  The household previously budgeted $20,000 for a brand new shiny car that they were looking forward to for a nice summer road-trip vacation.  Obama happens by a car dealership and sees a $50,000 car they he just has to have for his trips to the golf course.  After hearing of this revised plan, the household gets a bit testy and insists on a more reasonable solution.  In the spirit of comprise, Obama goes out and buys a new $30,000 car suitable for his trips to the golf course claiming that he has now saved the household $20,000.

 Not mentioned, Obama has still spent $10,000 more than originally proposed.  As for the household, they never will get their summer road-trip vacation.  It is unfortunate that some elements of the news media remain silent concerning this blatant "bait and switch".

Why Isn't the Political "Right" Creating Jobs???

The Washington Post on June 20, 2011 had this article: Scott Walker finds making bumper stickers is easier than creating jobs. The significance of this article is that highlights the extreme schizophrenia of the political "right".  On one hand the political "right" claims that the government is evil and stifles business.  Without any apparent recognition of their hypocrisy the political "right" goes on to demand with extreme arrogance that government create a business environment that fosters job growth by cutting so-called impediments such as regulations that protect the consumer.

Instead of laying perpetual blame on the government, why isn't the political "right" stepping up to take the leadership role in job creation?  Where are the entrepreneurs? Why aren't Jobs, Gates, Buffets creating job opportunities? After all this is what the private sector is supposed to be good at.

The reason that the private sector is laying people off and creating unemployment is that they have no need of non-productive employees. Yet they claim that the government must create unnecessary jobs to benefit the corporations.  Translation: "Corporate Welfare".  Gee, I thought the private sector was against welfare.

This insanity will continue. I will bet that if the government rolls over as demanded to create make work jobs that the private sector will continue with their mind numbing zombie mantra that the government is wasting millions of tax dollars having people do useless work.  I guess you just can't win.

Should the political "right" wish to restore some credibility to their claims that government should stay out of business, then they should take the responsibility to create jobs themselves. After all isn't it the claim of the political "right" that government does not create wealth and that it is the private sector that creates wealth. If that is true, when will the political "right" put its foot where its mouth is and start creating jobs?

Creating Jobs

On the way home from work today we happened to have the local talk radio station on.  I was pleasantly surprised by the statement that the responsibility of government is to provide a level business playing field; not job creation.  Normally this talk radio person espouses the government is evil mantra.  But his comments today did display some introspection that government should not be in involved in promoting job creation.  Too many of those on the political  "right" who claim to want smaller government unbelievably seem to accept the proposition that government should have so-called programs for stimulating employment and business growth.  That is wrong.  For those who want small government and claim to be capitalists, I would argue that the private sector needs to take the lead and responsibility  in creating jobs. I fully agree with the premise that one of the roles of government is to establish a level playing field for business competition.

As a clarification aside.  I would not have problems with government hiring people for public sector jobs, such as highway construction.  I would have a problem when companies receive tax incentives to hire employees.  That is a form of corporate welfare.

European Diaspora II

In my prior post "European Diaspora", I raised the concept that populations displace other populations. In real terms, that Western Europeans were being forced to move West as access to the East was "blocked" by aggressive populations, such as the Turks.

Since the original post, it occurred to me; Where did the Turks come from? Wikipedia to the rescue! Wikipedia has several articles concerning this topic. One "Genetic Origins of the Turkish People" appears inconclusive citing both a strong native Anatolian presence and "that Central Asians have made a 30% genetic contribution."

Another Wikipedia article, "Turkish Diaspora", writes "The main migration of Turkish people to Anatolia occurred at the same time of Turkic migration between the 6th and 11th centuries (the Early Middle Ages), when they spread across most of Central Asia and into Europe and the Middle East. The Seljuk Turks (Selçuk Türkleri) were the first Turkish power to arrive in the 11th century as conquerors, who proceeded to gradually conquer the land of existing Byzantine Empire. In the following centuries the local population began to be assimilated from the emerging Turkic migrants. Over time, as word spread regarding the victory of the Turks in Anatolia, more Turkic migrants began to intermingle with the local inhabitants, which helped to bolster the Turkish-speaking population."

Of particular importance to the narrative above is the Battle of Manzikert. In this particular battle, August 26, 1071, the Seljuq Turk forces led by Alp Arslan inflicted a decisive defeat to the Byzantine forces. According to the article this allowed the mass movement of Turks into Anatolia. By 1453 Constantinople fell to the Turks's, eventually culminating in the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

Battle of Hattin (July 4, 1187) (though 120 years later) was similar to the Battle of Manzikert in its outcome, that these Muslim victories opened the door for continued Muslim expansion. In the Battle of Hattin Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces severely crippling the ability of Christians to hold onto the Holy Land. Jerusalem fell to Saladin on October 2, 1187. The Muslims eventually conquered the rest of the middle east.

European Diaspora

Few people think in terms of Columbus's voyages to the "New World" as the beginning of a European diaspora. It's much more interesting and romantic for historians to portray Columbus as an enterprising merchantman seeking new trade routes to new lands and bringing the benefits of European culture. But there is an alternative viewpoint; that Columbus was really an early "refugee". Of course that tends to go counter to what we are normally taught.

At a fundamental level, western Europe at the time of Columbus was weak. In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Muslim's. Muslim expansion into Eastern Europe continued unabated until July September 1683 with the Battle of Vienna. Besides the Muslim expansion, there was the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire dissolved dissolved in 1368, but the Grand Duchy of Moscow apparently did not gain full independence until 1480.

If one thinks of population movements in terms of "pressure", the New World was a "vacuum" of virgin relatively unpopulated areas ripe for settlement. Eastern Europe however possessed hostile aggressive expanding civilizations that "pushed" Europeans west. For example, the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620. But 1620 also saw the defeat of the Poles by the Muslims at the Battle of Tutora. Given this situation, the logical approach for Europeans seeking a better life would be to move west.

What specifically prompts this post, is a "60 Minutes" video interview with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. While this is an interview of today, it's significance is that Western Europe continues to ignore the continued multi-century ethnic cleansing of Christians from formally Christian areas. This is one of the few times that a major news program has acknowledged this piece of "neglected" history. In that video Bartholomew laments that Western Europe has abandoned the Christians in Turkey and that the Christian population continues to decline (move out).

As another example of the decline in a Christian population because of out-migration, you also may be interested in the video Tiabe, the last Christian town remaining in the Holy Land (Palestine). I have also brought up the European diaspora here.

On the topic of balanced news from major news sources (such as the Washington Post and the New York Times); when Easter roles around the news media routinely provides front page coverage on the Roman Catholics celebrating Easter, but have you seen any articles on Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian Christians celebrating Easter?

The Eloquent Peasant

Like the Libertarians I have a malaise, an irrational belief that rationality will prevail. Libertarians hold that people interacting in a rationale manner will lead to a utopian society. Recognizing that people don't act rationale, I envision a benign government that will at least provide a level playing field. Obviously, governments act irrationally too, hence my post "Deficit Spending - Fiscal Insanity".

What prompted this post, is the posting of "A look at the legal system" on the Analog webpage. In that series of posts, Pawyilee brought up the story of "The Eloquent Peasant" (Wikipedia Entry). The story concerns an Egyptian peasant named Khunanup who is wronged by Nemtinakht circa 2040 – 1674 B.C. The story is essentially an appeal by Khunanup to the Egyptian government of that time for justice, which he eventually gets.

My first big take away of this story is that society 4,000 years ago was a lot more sophisticated than one thinks. So, not only can we be provisional in terms of space; but we can be provincial in time too. A good lesson in humility.

But I started out discussing Libertarians and rationality? Well Libertarian thought is based on the concept that rationale people can work out solutions using rationality with minimal government intervention. Khunanu, in his appeal to the Egyptian government for justice, raises many of the same issues that I have concerning the Libertarian position. He rationally demonstrated to Nemtinakht that an injustice was done to him. However, Nemtinakht because he had "power" refused negotiate. Not very Libertarian of Nemtinakht. It would be gratifying to credit Khunanu with the recognition that certain aspects of Libertarian ideology are irrational, but (as far as I know) there weren't any Libertarian's back then.

Since Khunanu was unable to achieve a resolution with Nemtinakht he appealed to the Egyptian government for justice. I am not going to go through all nine appeal themes. I will highlight the four that seem most relevant to my hopped for utopian government as a means of addressing my perception of Libertarian "shortcomings".

• Justice is Essential for an Orderly State.
• The Judge Has a Great Charge
• An Unjust Judge Participates in the Wrongdoer’s Acts
• The Judge Must Protect the Weak

I will endeavor to summarize the four points above. Please take a look at "Nanny State Hypocrisy?" In that post, I discussed that certain Libertarians advocate that government must stay out of interfering with business, yet in the very same breath they claim that government must take an active role in protecting business. This implies a tiered legal system where some would have the privilege of legal protection while others would not. Such a system would be inherently unjust. If the system is unjust, why should anyone respect the law? The translator writes:"The poor, the one who suffers injustice, is left with little recourse if the judge does not mete out justice with straight measure. That destroys the foundations of justice. Foundations once destroyed, what can the just man do?" With little recourse, one could assume anarchy as a logical outcome.

In order to maintain an orderly state, the judge must act in a fair manner. The translator writes: "A judge who judges unjustly not only commits an infraction against the virtue of justice, but he becomes a participant, a co-conspirator in the crime of the wrongdoer."

Like Nemtinakht some Libertarians seem to believe they can put a "blanket" in the road with impunity and expect the State to protect them. Passage of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act is an example of a law specifically implemented to protect a business thereby figuratively "stealing" from public domain which would make the government a criminal co-conspirator. The fallacy of this perceived corporate right to place a "blanket" is nicely summarized by the translator: "This is a symbol of how injustice—which is a private appropriation of another’s right—blocks the public right-of-way, justice, which is the “good way” of the simple as Khunanup calls it. Like a public thoroughfare, justice is a res publica, and its self-appropriation by the selfish and overreaching is a barricade to its proper function." I hope that those Libertarians who seem to believe that economic power somehow entitles them to State protection will appreciate the thoughts of Khunanu, "The Eloquent Peasant".

Apollo 11 Moon Landing Anniversary

Forty years ago, on July 20, 2009 man landed on the moon. Celebrations will soon be ensuing. The Las Vegas Review Journal writes; "40TH ANNIVERSARY: Moon landing taught us much about science -- and ourselves". Celebrating, this success should be a joyous event, but it is a bittersweet event since we are celebrating a past event and not a new success. When a country celebrates its past over its future, it is a country that has lost its will to move forward.

I would even go so far as to say that the meltdown in our economy and the failure of the National and State governments to balance their respective budgets demonstrate that our corporate and political leaders are, sad to say, incompetent. If we can't resolve our domestic issues, how can we move forward?

I will even throw-in a "fringe" Russian Russian academic Igor Panarin who has predicted that the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. This prediction was covered by the Wall Street Journal: "As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S." Now, I don't think that is going to happen, but it does raise (from an outsiders viewpoint) the specter that the US is a dysfunctional country. Our lack of progress in space and our inability to solve domestic issues are symptomatic of that dysfunction. A sad truth.

I have additional comment here. On an upbeat note, enjoy July 20, 2009 and celebrate our accomplishments of that day in 1969.

Update: The Washington Post (7/13/2009) published an article: "Space Station Is Near Completion, Maybe the End". According to the article: "In the first quarter of 2016, we'll prep and de-orbit the spacecraft," says NASA's space station program manager, Michael T. Suffredini. Whether this announcement is simply political gamesmanship, I don't know, but it potentially points to a further reduction in our space program.

Civil War Sites and GPS

Recently we bought a Garmin Nuvi 650. Since buying it we have learned that you can create a "Point of Interest File" (POI). Since January 2009 we have been collecting North Carolian GPS data locations for various Civil War historical markers, museums, whatever. Starting from Morehead City, we have been slowly spiralling our way outwards. The data is based on the maps produced by civilwartraveler.com to assist people who wish to visit these sites. The hardcopy maps, while helpful are no where near as accurate as a GPS unit. The North Carolina maps are located here: Front of Map Back of Map.

While visiting New Bern, we recorded the location of the Attmore-Oliver House. After getting home I typed the coordinates into Google maps and I was pleasantly surprised by a street view image that showed the house and historical marker.
Here are the coordinates: 35.10716 -77.0425

The GPS data collected so far as a POI file is stored here: North Carolina Civil War Trails. The file is free for the taking. I am hoping that this will become a community activity. If you are in North Carolina, have a GPS, and visit any of these sites, I hope that you would be able to email the coordinates. My email address is linked to my user ID on the download page.

Actually, the submitted Civil War data doesn't have to be limited to North Carolina. But for now, it makes more sense to focus on North Carolina. But, I will take all.

This is a personal project, I am not affiliated with civilwartraveler.com.