My Blog

Rectangular tyranny

wimpehiker — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:15:09 GMT

The way that we design quiet residential streets could be more efficient. The modified grid model is somewhat waseful--in terms of space, asphalt, and energy. A honeycomb approach--where each 'block' is an elongated hexagon--could handle the same traffic, with a slightly smaller paved surface area. The ratio of living space to car space would be slightly higher. The small triangles at the end of each 'block' could be planted with some attractive vegetation, to enhance property values--and in areas with sufficient rainfall for deciduous trees, to partially block the Summer sun from heating up the houses on East, South, and West ends of blocks. On the North-pointing triangles, we could plant attractive, low-maintenance shrubbery. The traffic intersections would be 3-way, rather than 4-way. With the greater visibility at 3-way intersections, if all motorists remembered the yield-to-the-driver-on-the-right rule, we could simply slow down at some intersections, rather than coming to a complete stop--or even a California stop. This would be especially true for Northbound cars on 'blocks' that have a NS long axis. We could get by with fewer stop signs. Neighborhood trips would be a little faster. Autombile fuel efficiency would be a little better. And air pollution would be a little less. Caveats. Obviously, we're not going to uproot existing houses to make honeycomb neighborhoods. The idea would mainly apply to new housing tracts. Moreover the topographies of some residential areas won't lend themselves to a honeycomb design, just as they don't for a traditional grid design. The major traffic arteries should continue to be designed in the same way. If you're looking for a buzzphrase to summarize the primary virtues of the honeycomb residential street model, it's perimeter efficiency.

Larry's climate history laboratory

wimpehiker — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:50:25 GMT

The last Ice Age wiped out all of the coniferous trees in Finland. After the continental ice sheet retreated, trees from elsewhere--like the Scots Pine--gradually colonized the vacant niche. On a smaller scale, the same thing happened in many high mountain ranges of the Earth's temperate regions, including the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. We can learn a thing or two about climate change from Alpine dendrology. Round Top Lake, at 9340 feet elevation in the Northern Sierras, is my favorite place for informal climate history research. The pine trees around the lake grow in tight clumps. Here's a link to a photo: http://tinyurl.com/ypjw5f The trees in any given group are genetically identical; they reproduce asexually. A new tree trunk will sprout outward from an existing root system. The seeds that do sprout can't endure the harsh Winters. There is a small gap between the pine trees near the lake and the ones farther down. Question: After the last Ice Age, how did the pine trees reach the lake? Answer. At some point after the last Ice Age, the Winters in the Northern Sierras were somewhat warmer than they are now--even with Global Warming. The trees sprouted from seeds at a time when the Winters were milder. Several years ago, I was surprised to see a knee-high seedling a short distance outside the crescent of tree clumps. However it did not survive. When I see isolated pine seedlings that grow to 6 feet in height, then I'll believe that the Northern Sierra climate is the warmest that it has been since the last Ice Age. Round Top Lake is one of my favorite short hikes. If I can get on top of the arthritis in my hip, I'll go there next Summer. And I'll let you know if I see any solitary pine trees.

Iraq War funding

wimpehiker — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:31:46 GMT

There is a creative way for the Democrats to handle the Iraq War funding issue. Make the money contingent on Bush stepping down, enlisting in the U.S. Army, and serving in Iraq. Bush puts his neck where his mouth is, or else no more funding for the war. Think about it. Vetoing the bill would not help Bush. If he does not sign a war-funding bill of some kind, then the war will automatically end when the money runs out. If Bush is the superpatriot he wants us to believe, and if he really thinks that the Iraq War is absolutely essential for our national security, then he would rise to the challenge without hesitation. What about the other major player in his administration? Dick Cheney has always been on the same page with the Grand Poobah, and has been very active in advancing the Bush agenda. And Bush has full confidence in Cheney's abilities. If Bush shipped out to Iraq, he would have peace of mind, knowing that all of his policies would remain in place at least until the next election. The Democrats can tell Bush: Put up or shut up! And most of the war-weary American public would cheer them on! What about the Republican Congress critters? They get the war funding that they want. And they can say goodbye to the village idiot that has been such an embarrassment to them. Of course, Bush will make the argument that he'd be more effective staying in the White House, but nobody would take that seriously. Second-banana Cheney has Bush values and a larger brain than The Chimp. Until the next election, Bushism could be at least as successful with Bush out of the country. One could make the argument that Bush knows too much to be separated from his Secret Service detail. But given Bush's alcohol-pickled brain, and his notorious lack of attention to detail, I don't think that that would fly. The proposed bill should pull the plug on W's Secret Service detail. Private Georgie could be a real soldier in a real war zone. However Secret Service protection would remain in place for all three of the former real presidents. The Democrats' oh-so-pedestrian approach, attaching timetables to the war funding, could be a two-edged sword. The Bushies' response could be to cut back on spending for body armor--ostensibly to save money--and then blame the Dems for not caring enough about the safety of U.S. combat troops in Iraq. On the other hand, my proposal would put the ENTIRE onus on Bush. Zero funding for the war unless he personally steps up to the plate. What is the most likely outcome? Republican leaders would pressure their albatross to be a man for a change, and do his bit in the Army. Bush's response would be to change his tune, and express a willingness to accept a compromise that did not put his own butt on the line. Then we would see a face-saving, Nixonesque process of Vietnamization in Iraq. Bush may even ask other nations in the region to play larger roles in stabilizing that country. One last detail. Since he is a serious physical fitness buff, Private Bush should have no problem running 3 miles (5 km) every morning with the rest of the troops--even at his age. The obvious question: Does Nancy Pelosi have the cojones to get behind my modest proposal? And can she keep a straight face while doing so?

Bible codes

wimpehiker — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:49:38 GMT

Usually I am more interested in learning about real science than in debunking junk science. However the subject of Bible codes came up on another board that I subscribe to, and I just had to respond. Here is some background info from the Wikipedia article on the subject: "Bible codes, also known as Torah codes, are words, phrases and clusters of words and phrases that some people believe are meaningful and exist intentionally in coded form in the text of the Bible. These codes were made famous by the book The Bible Code, which suggests that these codes offer warnings for the future. [Table of contents] The primary method by which purportedly meaningful messages have been extracted is the Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS). To obtain an ELS from a text, choose a starting point (in principle, any letter) and a skip number, also freely and possibly negative. Then, beginning at the starting point, select letters from the text at equal spacing as given by the skip number.)" Here is the link for the entire Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_code There is nothing new here. ELS is similar to a cryptographic approach called Chaffing and Winnowing. With either technique, the sender of the message throws a lot of garbage in with the real information, to confuse would-be eavesdroppers. The intended receiver of the information has an algorithm for throwing out the garbage. With a reasonably high garbage/info ratio, casual eavesdroppers would have no way of knowing which of the many possible 'coded messages' was the real one. I don't see how the putative Bible codes could deepen anyone's understanding of their religion, or of our day-to-day world. My educated guess is that there is a lot of wishful thinking and selective perception going on here. If your 'decoding' algorithm generates a 'hidden message' from Genesis that comfortably meshes with your belief system, you can say: Aha! On the other hand, if the algorithm generates an understandable message that you don't like, then you quietly put it into File 13, and conveniently forget about it. In IT parlance, we can summarize Bible 'decoding' schemes as follows: Garbage in, garbage out.

Condominiums and energy conservation

wimpehiker — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 05:05:41 GMT

Condos and PUD's are a form of home ownership that indirectly promotes energy conservation, because the population densities of condo complexes are greater than neighborhoods having only conventional, single-family houses. For an urban population of a given size, greater density means reduced transportation fuel use for commuters. Moreover sharing one or two walls with one's neighbors can decrease the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling. However condo homeowners associations (HOA's) are a different story. Board members have a fiduciary responsibility towards the homeowners that they serve. A part of that responsibility is taking reasonable measures to maintain property values. Example: repainting the units when needed. It is fairly standard for CC&R's to prohibit clotheslines in patios, because they don't look nice. A condo complex with clotheslines would probably have marginally lower property values than an otherwise similar complex that prohibits clotheslines. Prohibiting clotheslines means that people will be using energy-inefficient tumble dryers during the Summer months. It is not the fault of the board members; they are just doing their jobs. They are caught up in an informal, low-intensity conflict with other HOA's. A federal or state law that gives homeowners in all condo complexes the right to use clotheslines in patios could save a little energy, without spending any tax dollars.

Triangle Lake hike 9-2-06

wimpehiker — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 05:51:35 GMT

On Sunday, Doug, Jaime, Jason, Sam, my canine friend Gurr, and I began our adventure, by taking the Echo Lakes water taxi ($9.50/person, one way). We started walking just before noon. From the upper end of Echo Lakes, we did an exploratory day-hike on the Triangle Lake semi-loop trail. This splits off from the Pacific Crest Trail, above Echo Lakes, and well before Tamarack Lake. This marked side-trail is fairly steep, but fortunately most of it is in the shade. After we came to a flat saddle, we went down a fairly steep spur trail to the relatively small Triangle Lake, which has a good camp site. And it is a nice, quiet place to eat lunch. When we reached the saddle on the way out, we turned right for the other part of the semi-loop. When we got beyond the heavily forested part, we had stunning views of Tamarack Lake, Ralston Lake, Ralston Peak, and Pyramid Peak. When we reached the PCT again, it was well beyond Tamarack Lake. Although there was a marker at this trail junction, there was no mention of Triangle Lake. On the way back, we had some extra time. So we followed the ducked spur trail to Tamarack Lake. After taking a break there, we skirted the South shore, and followed a discontinuous trail to reach the gorgeous Ralston Lake. After enjoying the views there, we took a cross-country short-cut to return to the PCT. Rather than taking the water taxi back from the upper end of Echo Lakes, we walked the extra 2.5 miles, and treated ourselves to great views of the lakes. The main trail above Echo Lakes has a lot of sharp rocks; so I kept Gurr on leash most of the time. At the end of the day, his feet were in good condition. As usual, Gurr took every opportunity to jump in the water. Jaime took a long swim at Tamarack Lake, reporting that the water was not bad near the shore, but much colder further out. That reminds me, Murphy's Law of Hiking states that there can be no adventure without some misadventure mixed in. We learned that Labor Day weekend is not the best time to find a parking space at the Echo Lakes trailhead. And I took a fall forward on the trail, landing on my knees. Ouch! Here is the link for Sam's photos of the Triangle Lake hike: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bricks_n_dust/album?.dir=/cd21scd&.src=ph&

Bigfoot Hiking Adventure, 6 August 2006

wimpehiker — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 05:59:21 GMT

Mike, my canine friend Gurr, and I hiked to three lakes in the Desolation Wilderness, just West of Lake Tahoe. Grouse Lake is relatively shallow. There are grasses poking above the surface of the water near the edges of the lake. Earlier in the season, there are a lot of mosquitos there. Above the lake, we came to a lovely small meadow with wildflowers. We ate a quick lunch at the smaller Hemlock Lake, named after my favorite high-altitude tree. The most common type of wildflower there is Mountain Heather. The plant grows fairly close to the ground, and the leaves look a little like pine needles. The most common MH flower is pinkish purple, but there are others that look like partially popped popcorn! The trail petered out just before the rocky slope leading to our destination. Smith Lake is in a gorgeous Alpine setting, flanked by granite slopes on three sides. Even this late in the season, there were small snowfields just above the opposite shore. Gurr had a great time fetching a stick that I threw into the water. We had a small adventure on the way back. We were walking through a forested area, and heard a tree fall 200 meters ahead of us. Fortunately it fell parallel to the trail, and nobody was injured, even though there were other hikers nearby at the time. When Mike and I reached the fallen tree, we realized that Gurr was not with us. Gurr was spooked by the noise, and did not want to go into the area where the tree had fallen. I had to go back, and put on his leash. Apparently dogs are genetically programmed to be frightened by the sound of heavy objects--like trees and boulders--falling. I learned something new today. The round-trip distance was more than 13 km (8.4 miles), the altitude gain was more than 500 m (more than 1700 feet), and most of the hike was above 2100 m (above 6960 feet) in elevation. We accidentally got off-trail a few times. The first time that you visit these three lakes, I suggest going with someone who has been there before. The trail is very indistinct in places. Happy trails, Larry

Hike report: 23 July 2006

wimpehiker — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 01:18:17 GMT

This weekend it was just Gurr, my canine friend, and me. I posted our outing on three of the local online hiking groups, but everyone else was scared off by the hot weather forecast. It was warmer than usual in the high country, and I had to go slow, because I am more sensitive to heat than most people. We hiked from the Wrights Lake trailhead to Lower Twin Lake. Twin Lakes and the smaller Island Lake and Boomerang Lake are in a large natural amphitheater, surrounded by a granite cirque. The two smaller lakes are magical places. The patterns of cracks and multicolored lichens in the rocks make them works of art! These lakes are all at timberline, my favorite life zone. There are some medium-size coniferous trees, and some trees that grow as beautiful cushion plants. If the Northern Sierra were a little higher, we would see more of the Alpine tundra between timberline and the granite ridges and peaks. There were some wildflowers by the trail in places. We saw Fireweed and Green Gentian for the first time this Summer. On last week's hike, the wildflowers were growing in the open areas. This week, the open areas were mostly exposed granite slabs. This year, we did not make it beyond the Lower Twin Lake. There was too much water flowing over the small dam at the lower end, the usual route. We also tried the alternate route, boulder-hopping along the Southern shore. However Gurr was not comfortable with that. This surprised me because in many ways, Gurr is a very athletic dog. We had a little extra time; so we revisited the Lower Enchanted Pool. Gurr had a great time doing water fetches. Gurr is very much a Nature dog. He loves forests, meadows, lakes, and streams. On the way back to the car, Gurr went ahead of me, stopped, and started howling like a wolf. From a human perspective, it sounded sad. But this was his way of saying: "I like it here. I don't want to go back to the suburbs. Let's make this place our new home. And all of the other dogs and coyotes better stay away from our territory!" Our total hiking distance was just over 7 miles, we gained just over 1000 feet of altitude, and most of our hike was above 7000 feet elevation.

Global Warming on Mars

wimpehiker — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:26:57 GMT

Apparently those damned Martians love their SUVs as much as Americans do! Seriously though, the evidence for Global Warming on Mars is less conclusive than on Earth, largely because we haven't been taking measurements there for as long as we have on our homeworld. However it is an interesting coincidence that one of our planetary neighbors seems to be experiencing GW at the same time that we are. Or is it a coincidence? Anyway, here is the URL: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_snow_011206-1.html

BIGFOOT ADVENTURE 16 JULY 2006

wimpehiker — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:38:20 GMT

On Sunday, Eric, Jason, Mike, yours truly, and Gurr the Wonder Dog explored the Showers Lake loop, starting from Schneiders Cow Camp. The wildflowers were in bloom, and they should be at their peak very soon. This hike also has a lot of Mountain Hemlocks, my favorite high-altitude tree. Even in mid-July, there was snow on the trail in several places. Since I was sporting my lightweight hiking shoes at the time, I'm glad that I brought my hiking pole. There were fewer mosquitos than I expected, because there was a light breeze in places that I did not expect. However when we got up into the heavily forested area, the trees blocked the wind, and it was time to pile on the DEET. Eric, our official GPS operator, told us when we were getting close to the trailhead on the return part of the loop. Jason was our official photographer, and I will post a link to some of his pictures from our hike. Mike, our official Earth scientist, explained some of the mixed geology of the area. And Gurr invented a new doggie sport, sliding down steep snowbanks, sometimes right-side-up, and sometimes on his back!

Bigfoot Adventure 9 JULY 2006

wimpehiker — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 04:42:41 GMT

Sunday I went on a Sierra Club hike to Round Lake in the Echo-Carson area. If you replaced the relatively plentiful coniferous trees with a few birches, it would look a lot like the photos of the mountains in Northern Sweden that I have seen. The underlying geology is old volcanic rock. That is a little unusual for the Sierras, which are mostly granitic. We had gorgeous views of meadows and the surrounding mountains. The wildflowers were in bloom. We saw Indian Paintbrush, Columbine, Mountain Iris, Sierra Wallflower, Mariposa Lily, Lupine, Pretty Faces, Mules Ears, Phlox, Penstamen, and more. There was still a little snow on the trail in places. The lake was still too cold for swimming. The altitude was all above 8000 feet. The hike was approximately 9 miles, round trip. And yes, the mosquitos were out in force. This last fact proves the truth of the old Irish saying: There can be no pleasure without an equal amount of pain!

Fractal art

wimpehiker — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:26:36 GMT

In the last 30 years, personal computers have opened the door to a new kind of artistic exploration. Benoit Mandelbrot showed that a relatively simple computer program could generate richly detailed abstract art. In popular culture, these creations are known as fractals. I count the Mandelbrot Set as Nature art, because it is an objective, intrinsic part of human nature that has waited patiently for millennia to be released by the power of the workhorses sitting on our desktops. The early part of the following article is mostly technical and historical info. Most of the actual artwork is about 70% of the way down. Anyway, the URL is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Kryptonite

wimpehiker — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:15:39 GMT

Kryptonite is the most underrated subject in all of comic book literature. Aficionados of the genre will recall that kryptonite was Superman’s Achilles heel. However there is a more interesting side to the kryptonite story. If we were to use standard chemical nomenclature in a formal way (with no regard for reality), kryptonite would be an ion (in this case, a molecule with an electric charge) comprising one krypton atom, one or more atoms of oxygen, and 2 extra electrons. Even if it existed, you could not simply buy a bottle of the stuff off the shelf at Home Depot. Way too unstable! However if the hypothetical kryptonite ion did exist, then disodium kryptonite could be a different story. Up until 1962, most people thought that krypton and all of the other noble gases were essentially inert in a chemical sense--neon lights notwithstanding. Since then, we have learned that there actually is a rudimentary chemistry of krypton. For example, krypton difluoride can be synthesized, and now there is even a type of laser that exploits the chemistry of that compound. Of the noble gases, xenon has the best-studied chemistry. The chemistry of the noble gas radon would be even more fun to explore if it weren’t so radioactive. Some authorities consider radon to be a public health risk in places like Grand Junction, Colorado, where the indoor air levels of radon in some houses are much higher than normal. Apparently tailings from uranium mining found their way into some of the foundations. Naughty, naughty! One more tidbit of noble gas chemistry. Argon, krypton, and xenon dissolve sparingly in water to form clathrates, where the noble gas atoms are more-or-less locked into a semi-rigid solvent cage of water molecules. It is thought that other kinds of clathrates play a role in the mechanisms of some anesthetics, and of the nitrogen narcosis suffered by scuba divers who go too deep for too long. Methane, aka natural gas--which is definitely not in the same category as the noble gases--can form solid aqueous clathrates under high pressure and cool temperatures. The good news is that there are huge reserves of methane clathrate deposits on our ocean bottoms, and under the Arctic tundra. The trick is to find a way to extract them in an economical way. The not-so-good news is that global warming could cause some of the methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas, to be released from the clathrates into the atmosphere, as part of a positive feedback loop. Currently the University of Helsinki is on the cutting edge of research on noble gas chemistry. And you thought that Superman was the only person who was concerned about kryptonite!

Intro to article about conviction for Holocaust denial

wimpehiker — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 01:27:11 GMT

Where do we draw the line between freedom of speech and public safety? At one pole, is the Libertarian position: Free speech is offensive speech. At the other pole, is the strict Austrian law, which David Irving was convicted under. Somewhere in the middle, some other EU countries prohibit incitement against an ethnic, religious, or racial group--but not Holocaust denial. The American approach to free speech seems to be in a different dimension--at least at the Federal level. In their infinite wisdom, our courts have decided that the First Amendment does not apply to certain types of commercial speech. For example, the FDA routinely exercises prior censorship against truthful, nonmisleading advertising by pharmaceutical companies. If you want a real eye-opening civics lesson, and have a few billion dollars to play with, start selling low-dose aspirin in the U.S., and in your advertising, claim that it can decrease the risk of heart attacks. Government censorship that kills people is difficult to justify. The Smirking Chimp wants to require all political bloggers to register with the Federal government. What part of "chilling effect" is he failing to comprehend? In stark contrast with Bush's Big Brother trial balloon, is our usual approach to hate speech: Prosecute only when it leads to actual violence. Who knows? It may be true that either the American ostrich approach or the European approach is clearly superior under all circumstances. Or maybe our approach is better for us, and the European approach is better for Europeans. We in the U.S. really need to have more discussions--above and beyond mere chest thumping--about freedom of speech. What does it mean? And what are the boundaries of free speech? In light of Europe's history and current political climate, is Irving's denial of the Holocaust a backdoor type of incitement? Anyway, please pardon my long-windedness. Here is the URL for the thought-provoking article: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/02/21/freedom_on_trial.html

Hike report: Rock-a-Chucky Trail, 2-19-06

wimpehiker — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 02:13:44 GMT

On Sunday, we thumbed our collective noses at the weather forecast, and ventured forth to the Rock-a-Chucky Trail. In addition to myself, the other four hardy souls were Ken, April, Mike, and Gurr. If winter hiking were a competitive event at Torino, Gurr would be the gold medalist. He has so much energy that we have to keep him on leash for the Foothill hikes, so that he doesn’t do side-excursions into the poison oak. Starting out, we saw small patches of snow under the trees. Ken, who recently moved here from Massachusetts, was mildly surprised to see snow in California. For a long time, I have been curious about a dark-colored rock with reddish streaks, which is fairly common in the foothill river canyons. Mike--our official hike geologist--explained that they were metamorphosed volcanic rocks. Because Rock-a-Chucky is a jeep road, it doesn’t have the same wilderness feel as some of the high country summer hikes. Nevertheless our efforts were rerwarded with gorgeous views of the Middle Fork of the American River. We were the only hikers, but we saw one group of campers. And we were passed by several SUV drivers, who had no idea what they were missing. The creek crossings were somewhat challenging, but we managed them without having to take off our boots. Rock-hopping across is more sporting than wading. After two hours, we stopped for a snack break. (For Gurr, it was a tummy rub break.) When we headed back, the storm clouds were gathering. On the grade leading out of the canyon, April took the leash, and had a first-hand experience of canine turbo-hiking. A few minutes after getting back into the car, we had a brief rain shower. Good timing, eh! April--our official hike photographer--says that it will take some time to develop the pictures, scan them into her computer, and upload to Sacramento_Hiking_Outdoors, on Yahoo. My understanding is that there are as many Gurr pix as there are nature photos.

My Beliefs

wimpehiker — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 08:26:21 GMT

Where I am coming from spiritually, and how does it relate to my politics? I believe that consciousness exists independently of matter. Is this the same as theism? Not necessarily. I also believe that the number of gods is either less than 2 or more than 3. I respect Agnostics and Agnostic Atheists (as well as Humanists, Freethinkers, and Brights), because I believe that the capacity for doubt is both a virtue and a mark of intelligence. I respect Judaism, which to the best of my knowledge, is the only genuinely Monotheistic faith among the major religions of the world. I respect Pantheistic and Nature-based religions that do not involve human sacrifice. And I respect religions like Buddhism, which emphasize the quest for the truth within, or enlightenment. I am very turned off by Oligotheism, the idea that God is too busy to pay attention to individuals, and that if you want to be truly religious, you have to go through an assistant god--JC if you are a Christian, or Mohammed if you are a Muslim--and that you are damned if you have the wrong mental imagery, listen to the wrong stories, or do not not know the secret handshake. In my limited American experience, a greater proportion of self-identified followers of the Oligotheistic religions are dogmatic, narrow-minded, and intolerant than are self-identified followers of the non-Oligotheistic belief systems. I am also turned off by Atheistic Fundmentalism--the official belief system of the old Soviet Union--the idea that the ultimate reality is that there is no ultimate reality. I do not believe that a state-sponsored religion is necessarily an evil thing in all circumstances. For example, Sweden only recently disestablished their official church. (I'm not sure why; I'll ask.) Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries are far more Progressive, and have much less corruption than we do. I do believe that there should be much more separation of church and state in the US than we currently have, partly because of my personal sensibilities, but mainly because its in the Constitution. An assault on the First Amendment is an assault on the entire Bill of Rights. Yes, I also believe that the ARA can make an equally valid argument about the Second Amendment. If there is a consensus that the right to keep and bear arms is not appropriate in the 21st Century, then we should repeal or amend the Second Amendament. All too often, judicial salami tactics cut both ways.

Iraq War Scenarios

wimpehiker — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 01:56:36 GMT

During the Vietnam War, many Americans were swayed less by facts and reason, than by vacuous slogans, like “We’ve got a tiger by the tail.” In the current Iraq quagmire, many Americans have taken Tom Friedman’s Pottery Barn meme to heart. With some justification, they feel that we have a moral obligation to the Iraqi people to clean up the mess that we created in the first place. However this is easier said than done. I see three possible ways that the Iraq War could play itself out. The first scenario is that the Republicans will keep us there until it is no longer profitable to pump any more of Iraq's oil out of the ground. The second scenario is that a Democrat will be elected president, and will take a page out of the Nixon playbook. Vietnamization would provide a fig leaf for bugging out of Iraq. However it is very unlikely that a Democrat could be elected without a supermajority. The Republicans control the rigged paperless voting computers in the key battleground states. If Ohio exit polls showed a 60-40 margin of victory for Hillary over McCain in 2008, and if the election officials were foolish enough to declare McCain the winner there, we would see rioting in the streets. But how likely is a 60-40 exit poll victory for Hillary in a swing state, like Ohio? Even though the fix is in, it is still important for Progressives to cast their symbolic votes, in order to minimize mandate madness. Getting back to the Iraq War, the third scenario is the least likely, because it would be a bitter pill for the geopolitical control freaks in our government to swallow. But first some background. There are currently six major sources of mass violence in Iraq. 1. Garden-variety violent crime. 2. Sunni Arab Bathists, who enjoyed the status quo under Saddam Hussein. 3. Suicide bombings by foreign jihadis. 4. Shia extremists. 5. Massacres, like Fallujah, at the hands of the US military. 6. False-flag attacks by the US, in the spirit of divide and rule. In light of the above, the simplest exit strategy is to actively promote an Islamic 'Republic' of Iraq (IRIQ), modeled after Iran, but with a reasonable degree of autonomy for the Kurds in the north. Granted, theocracy--even a tyranny of the majority--really sucks. But the prospect of decades of internecine warfare sucks even more. Now lets look at some advantages of IRIQ. An Islamic ‘Republic’ would have much more legitimacy than George W Bush’s student council government in Iraq. Major violence sources 3-6 would dry up quickly. A real Iraqi government could devote more resources towards reducing major violence sources 1 and 2. Ironically, our current favorite villain, Iran, would probably assist in the transformation. Muslims throughout the world would be scratching their heads in befuddlement, as latter-day Christian Crusaders suddenly started promoting stability and Islamic government in Iraq. More to the point, most Iraqis would be much better off under a stable Islamic ‘Republic’ than they were under Saddam Hussein’s ruthless dictatorship, or under Bush’s equally ruthless war of plunder.

Tautology and Evolutionary Theory

wimpehiker — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 08:04:06 GMT

In a moment of idle curiosity, I recently googled on the key word tautology, together with the phrase Natural Selection, and was surprised at the sheer volume of stuff out there. I suspect that a good-sized chunk of that material was written by Christian Fundamentalists out to play a hard game of Gotcha! However in the first page of search results, there was an essay on the subject, written in the 1970s, by the late Stephen Jay Gould. The URL is: http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_tautology.html Gould was an outstanding scholar, and an articulate science popularizer. However I am disappointed in this particular article. Gould tap-danced around the issue of tautology in evolutionary theory, without fully addressing it. As an outsider, I feel that evolutionary biologists have not fully come to grips with the logic of natural selection. In a biological context, evolution means two things to me. First there is the fact of evolution. Looking at the fossil record, humans--for example--surface at a relatively late stage of geologic history, compared with crocodiles. It is clear that different species come into existence at different times. Then there is the theory of evolution, which provides a mechanism for the fact of evolution. There are a number of interesting questions, nuances, and wrinkles in evolutionary theory--geographic isolation, altruism, sexual selection, and punctuated equilibrium--to name a few. However the two central ideas in modern evolutionary theory are random mutation and natural selection. The basic idea is that relatively infrequent random mutations are the driving force of evolution, and that natural selection gives shape to the evolutionary process. Natural selection is a frame of reference. From this biological perspective, you are always asking the question: Does a given mutation help an individual adapt to his environment, and to pass on that genetic innovation to his offspring? Or is the mutation dysfunctional for genetic survival. Or is the mutation neutral in terms of its genetic survival value? Sometimes natural selection is caricatured as “survival of the fittest”. In the context of evolutionary theory, fitness means propensity for genetic survival. The phrase “survival of the fittest” (SOTF) translates to “[genetic] survival of those with the greatest propensity for genetic survival”. Since SOTF contains no real information, it is a tautology. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Many educated people regard all tautologies as expressions of stupidity. I disagree. A counterexample is the platitude: Fair is fair (FIF), which is clearly an identity. However in common parlance, FIF says: “Let’s apply the principle of fairness in this particular situation.” Everyone understands what the expression means. If the Language Police were to crack down on all tautologies, our everyday speech would lose some of its luster. Getting back to natural election, we are left with two choices. We can scrape off the SOTF bumper sticker, and always describe natural selection in its full pedantic splendor. Or we can pretend that SOTF portrays natural selection accurately. In the first case, fully describing natural selection would be a great essay question for the SAT, because most high school seniors could not do justice to it. SOTF on the other hand, is a catchy jingle that most people can relate to. If we embrace the SOTF shorthand, then we must accept that natural selection is a tautology--not necessarily a bad tautology--but a tautology nevertheless. One thing that SOTF has in common with Intelligent Design (ID) is that neither idea is falsifiable. Ironically, any observational result that purports to verify SOTF could just as easily support ID! Mathematicians have long realized that it is not necessary to prove everything. Moreover, attempting to define everything ultimately leads to circularity. What is a point? It is the intersection of two line segments. What is a line segment? It is the shortest path between two points. There is no shame in leaving some fundamental concepts without formal definitions, and in creating postulates about properties of these primitive entities to use as tools in proving theorems. But what is the essence of a point? That is a two-beer problem. The tautology issue in evolutionary biology hinges on language, on how much precision you use in framing the concept of natural selection. This should raise a red flag about our own science education. Some of what we think we know about science, and about The Scientific Method is a fairy tale. Your high school biology teacher would probably be shocked to hear this, but tautology does have a legitimate role in science. Tautology or not, Darwin’s insight has great heuristic value. Natural selection is enormously helpful in steering researchers toward interesting questions about the real world. In contrast, ID has no heuristic value whatsoever. From a science education perspective, ID is a neurological software virus. Understanding natural selection--even at the tautological bumper sticker level--is an essential part of scientific literacy.

The Dover, PA Ruling on Intelligent Design in the Classroom

wimpehiker — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 03:42:47 GMT

In the recent Dover, PA court ruling on Intelligent Design in the classroom, Judge John E. Jones spoke with great eloquence. The first two quotes get right to the heart of the political part of the issue. "We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom." "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy." Judge Jones describes ID as "a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory". I think that his next quote is quite profound. Judge Jones says that ID "violates the centuries-old ground rules of science by invoking and permitting supernatural causation". In other words, this is not the way that the science game is played. IMHO, this is the strongest argument that freethinkers can make against the specious claim that ID is scientific.

Murdering the Language

wimpehiker — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 20:16:41 GMT

Many years ago, a well-traveled acquaintance from Taiwan observed that Americans are fascinated by murder (and that the Japanese are fascinated by suicide), but did not elaborate. One possible reason--among many--is American English. Language reveals a lot about a culture. A society that spends a lot of time ruminating about murder, for example, will soon tire of using of that word frequently, and will spice up its vocabulary with synonyms for murder. There are several murder words in standard English, and many more in American slang. It would be interesting to compare the length of the English murder word list with murder word lists in other languages--Swedish, for example. Some murder-related words: manslaughter, kill, assassinate, massacre, ethnic cleansing, holocaust, to execute someone, to off someone, to eliminate someone, to 86, to deep-six, to ice, to put out a contract on (mafia slang, murder for hire), to whack (mob slang), to knock off (mob slang) to bump off (old mob slang), to rub out (old mob slang). To do someone (slang) is a murder synonym. It can also have a crude sexual meaning. To waste someone (1970s slang) is a murder synonym. However being wasted can also mean being very drunk. There is also homicide, along with its specific variants, like regicide (to kill a king). There is even a euphemism, or polite expression, for murdering someone in literature. Example: Millions of British readers were upset when Arthur Conan-Doyle *killed off* his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, in a story. Killing off is much less shocking than the word killing, used all by itself. Murder words are can even be used in non-murder contexts. A few examples. You have a friend, who is a very talented musician, and is performing in public for the very first time. Before he steps out onto the stage, you can say: Knock them dead! If you are a very successful investor, you can say: I made a killing on the stock market. Chile con carne is a Tex-Mex dish that contains beef, red chili powder, cumin, chopped onion, chopped green peppers, tomato, etc. If your recipe is very tasty, and very spicy-hot, you can say: This is my killer chili. Of course, there are both military and figurative uses for the word overkill. One final example: Anyone who thinks such-and-such should be shot. It is not uncommon to hear this in the US. When Americans use this expression, they are not joking; they are angry.

The Tookie Williams Case

wimpehiker — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 07:44:11 GMT

Tookie Williams appeal for clemency has been in the international news recently. A European friend thinks that executing criminals is not something that civilized countries do. There are several other issues in the Williams case, and in many other death penalty cases in the US. First, is it morally right to execute a person who has rehabilitated himself, as Williams apparently has? Second, there is the race issue. If an African-American person and a European-American person are convicted of similar murders, the African-American person is more likely to get the death penalty. (Williams is African-American.) This is partly because of overt racism, and partly because of the less-visible racism in the economic sphere. This leads to the third issue: legal representation. In too many cases, when a poor person in the US is accused of murder and cannot afford a good attorney, the state will appoint some incompetent, alcoholic lawyer to handle the defense, and pay him much less for his time than he would normally make. Surprise, surprise! A poor person accused of first-degree murder is more likely to be convicted than a rich person. The fourth issue: wrongful convictions. A few years ago, Governor Ryan, of Illinois, observed that DNA and other evidence proved that a shockingly high percentage of people convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death, were in fact, innocent. Governor Ryan followed his conscience, and paid the political price. One advantage of prison sentences for even first-degree murder is that when new exonerating evidence surfaces, you can simply let the person out of jail. On the other hand, if you execute a person for a crime, you cannot bring him back to life when new evidence proves that he is innocent. A fifth issue is deterrence. Obviously, if you execute a convicted murderer, he is not going to kill again. However 99 years of solitary confinement will have the same effect. Does the death penalty really affect the murder rate? A large percentage of first-degree murders in the US are committed by sociopaths. Classic sociopaths not only lack a conscience, but they also have very poor impulse control, and are very unlikely to think about the consequences of their actions. I do not know if the death penalty would be a bigger deterrent for a borderline type of sociopath than the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. My understanding is that the death penalty does not have a statistically significant impact on violent crime in the US. A sixth issue is the question: How do you get the biggest bang for your criminal justice system buck? Murder trials cost money, some more than others. It costs a lot more to successfully prosecute a death-penalty case than to successfully prosecute a non-death-penalty, first-degree murder case. It would be cheaper to lock up a convicted first-degree murderer for the rest of his life, than for the state to pay the additional court costs for the death penalty phase of his first-degree murder trial. In terms of violent crime prevention, that money would be better spent on drug rehab programs, athletic programs for inner city youth--even keeping the public library open for longer hours! A seventh issue: Where do religious authorities come down on the question of the death penalty? The Catholic Church is officially against it. A few demographically small religions in the US--like Quakers, Mennonites, and the Amish--are 100% nonviolent. Nevertheless, a decisive majority of Protestants in the US are strongly in favor of the death penalty. A smaller question: How do I feel about the death penalty? I am very skeptical. However I would not feel bad about applying the death penalty to a Hitler, or to a Pol Pot. If someone close to me were murdered, a part of me would want to execute the killer with my own two hands. But suppose that the murdered person was completely nonviolent, and would not have wanted me--or the state--to execute the killer. Then the morally correct thing for the state to do would be to honor the final wishes of the murder victim. Life in prison for the murderer, yes; death penalty, no.

Gurr the Craftsman

wimpehiker — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 06:35:26 GMT

On 8-13-05, we set out from Sacramento County to hike the little-known Bassi Cabin loop trail. The hike is a symphony of coniferous forest, running water, and glacier-polished granite. I was joined by my friend Gurr--a large handsome Border Collie mix--and Kanako, a young woman who responded to my posting of the outing on a local Yahoo hiking group. As Kanako and I walked down through the trees, Gurr ran ahead to be certain that there were no ferocious Golden Retrievers in our path, stopped to sniff the shrubbery, ran back to check up on us , and then ran forward again. When we came to some large Jeffrey pines, we turned off the trail for the short cross-country leg of our adventure. In a few minutes, we came to the creek. Gurr promptly jumped into the water, and when he came out, we walked downstream for about 200 yards, before crossing over. We followed a game trail to Bassi cabin, which is still occasionally used by the Bassi family. The cabin itself is fairly ordinary, but the backdrop is gorgeous. The steep face of a gigantic granite boulder, flanked by conifers, towers over the cabin. About 100 yards past the cabin, Kanako and I sat down by the creek for lunch. Unlike humans, Gurr thinks that a lunch break is for playing fetch. He prefers to fetch big sticks, rather than small ones, because the heavier sticks give his neck muscles a better workout. Gurr managed to find a nice piece of wood of the right weight. Then, to my surprise, he started chomping down on one end. He is not normally a very chewy dog. When Gurr has excess energy--which is most of the time--he usually runs, swims, or digs. But the wood chips were flying, and I wondered what he was up to. My question was answered a few minutes later, when Gurr brought the wood chunk to me, knowing that I would throw it for him. Initially, the wood chunk was too large for Gurr to grip comfortably in his mouth; so he chewed a handle on one end! Before Jane Goodall’s pioneering study of wild chimpanzees, most of us believed tool-use and especially tool-making were exclusively human activities. Goodall was intrigued when she first observed a chimp poking a stick into a termite mound, waiting a minute, pulling out the stick, and then licking off the termites. In terms of intelligence, chimpanzees have nothing on Border Collies!

Is Christianity a Form of Multilevel Marketing?

wimpehiker — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 01:52:43 GMT

Conventional wisdom portrays MLM as a product of 20th Century capitalism. Yet some Amway dealers and other MLM folks have an almost religious fervor about their work. Evangelical Christianity in the US has another notable commonality with MLM: the pyramid scheme. Many American Fundamentalists believe that one cannot achieve salvation without strong faith. One’s conduct should reflect a deep belief in God, and in JC as one’s personal savior. On a mundane level, it is very important that one manifest faith by being faithful to one’s spouse, and by abstaining from certain recreational chemicals. If one cheats at Poker and takes delight in torturing Iraqi prisoners, these acts are relatively minor transgressions in the overall scheme of things. Fortunately, ordinary people with checkered pasts have another option for earning afterlife points; following the Golden Rule is not enough anyway. For American Fundamentalists, an essential part of manifesting faith--and of reaping the rewards in the afterlife--is actively promoting the prepackaged Christian worldview by any and all means available. Even if one is not a particularly good role model for Christian conduct in his private life, he can still earn afterlife points by singing the praises of Jesus, and generating more converts to occupy the lower chambers of his religious pyramid. Am I unfairly singling out Christianity? In my experience, Christian Fundamentalists in the US are much more aggressive than non-Christians in hawking their religious beliefs. If a perfect stranger approaches me on a street corner, and says, "I really want to help you", there is a 99% probability that he has a pre-recorded Christian sales pitch on the tip of his tongue. In the US, Jewish people, for example, have much better manners. In 1 Corinthians 9:22, Paul sees himself as becoming all things to all men, in order to save them. This ‘plain-folks’ approach is an important part of salesmanship, and of propaganda in general. In my humble opinion, Paul is the first mass-marketer in the history of religion. Was he also the guiding light for modern American-style MLM?

A Surprising Fact About Mountain Lions (Humor)

wimpehiker — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 07:34:06 GMT

Did you know that mountain lions prefer to eat hikers who are vegetarians? Here is why. Like all predators, the big cats have radar for weakness of any kind in a prey animal. For example, if an individual prey animal is smaller than usual, or walks with a limp, then the mountain lion will size him up as an easy meal. A typical big cat has a reasonably good sense of smell. True, dogs usually have sharper noses than mountain lions. However a big cat has a much better sense of smell than a typical human. Notwithstanding our puny olfactory equipment,we humans can often glean a surprising amount of information from smells. Suppose that you are riding in an elevator with a person who has just eaten garlic for lunch. Then that fact will be readily apparent--unless you have also partaken. If you are hiking upwind of a mountain lion, the big cat will immediately know what you have eaten recently. Suppose that you had a Big Mac before the hike. The mountain lion will reason in the following way: “I’m impressed. This omnivore has just killed a cow for breakfast. I’m not going to mess with him!” If a second hiker walks by, and the big cat smells only tofu, then his reasoning will be different: “This omnivore is too weak and too slow to bring down live prey. Should I have white wine with this meal? Or would the red be better?”