Category: Cautious Optimism
Harry Alford is the creator and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. He is also a veteran US Army Captain. But this is not why Alford is an American Hero. Alford is a hero because he speaks truth to power.
Let the record show, not all Americans who happen to be Black support the policies of Mr. Obama.
It has finally happened. (And thanks for Red Eye on DVR I did not miss it.) While many of us were still neck deep in stories about the funeral of a certain musical icon or the political future of a certain female governor the tide turned in the epic battle of global warming alarmist versus the future of humanity. The road will be long, but rest assured my comrades: we shall overcome.
The former Vice President of the United States, the notorious Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. has invoked Godwin’s Law with his July 7th presentation to students at Oxford University in England. Gore rambled about Churchill, political will as a renewable resource, and saving civilization. His statements reek of desperation. (more…)
Gan is probably right about Transformers part deux, but I will probably get around to seeing it anyway.
Time and Death heal all wounds. The triumphant and tragic life of a man has come to an end. The King is dead. Long live the King.
I was thinking that others would comment on this before I got around to it, if ever. But I had a long conversation with a co-worker today and I figured I might as well get some of it down in digital ink.
“The Man” is always holding us people down.
I will say this loud and clear so that there can be no misunderstanding: the recent death of a musical icon has changed my life.
“How?” is the cry I hear from the three or four people (two?) reading this column. Simple. The death of this icon has caused me to focus on his life. The triumphant and tragic life of a man who just wanted to make people happy, but was demonized and vilified by people with no knowledge of fact. Is it possible that this man committed unspeakable and immoral crimes of the most deplorable nature? Yes, it is certainly with-in the realm of possibility. But isn’t it all the more likely that we wanted to believe he committed these crimes? Is it possible that we wanted to destroy this man? (more…)
Recently I have found myself in certain social circles. I find myself asking a damning question: are all these people crazy? The trouble with that question is that it is invariably followed by the darker question: if I am surrounded by crazy people, does that make me one of them?
Did you know that Glen Beck is a CIA plant meant to draw attention away from the Patriot movement? Or how about this: did you know fire has never brought down a steel building? Never ever.
These are just a small sampling of things I have heard recently from people I thought were otherwise rational. I found myself wondering. Am I crazy? It is said that you can judge a person by the friends he keeps. Does this mean that if a person’s friends are conspiracy theorist nut jobs that by default that person is also a nut job? The thought is sobering.
I am back from vacation. Hence the title of this post. We travelled to Toronto for a week in order to see the in-laws, especially the freshly minted nephew my sister-in-law bore into the world on May 3rd. My nephew Cole. He is probably the most well behaved baby this side of the equator. Interestingly he does seem to have a visceral hatred of the 401. But who is to blame him? Anyone who has driven that monstrousity of a motorway shares the sentiment.
I had a wonderful time, and it all ended too quickly. Especially when you consider that two days of travelling (one split with hell at the US Passport Agency) and 20 hours of work on a ultra rush, ultra high priority what not that required I take a company laptop and work a 12 hour Friday at the farmhouse. But never the less it was a good time.
There was of course the pleading. The near constant drone of my in-laws making the case for me to move to Canada. For me to embrace the red stylings of the wintery north. I love them all dearly. But it is just not in my “five year plan”.
Clarity of vision and overwhelment are easily confused and often misunderstood.
Is the volume turned down or has the noise faded into a din?
Late last year I was approached by my superiors to write an article for the Florida Engineering Society Journal. The completed article was published in the April 2009 issue of the Florida Engineering Society Journal (FES Journal). Visit the FES at www.FLENG.org.
The current economic crisis must converge with the uplifting “green” market forces. To that end, a meeting of policy regarding new energy efficient and environmentally sustainable housing materials should be pressed in this period where housing starts will hit a slump. History has shown that only major disasters or top down policy shifts create a change in the unified building code. The examples are wide ranging from the major over haul of the Miami-Dade standard after Hurricane Andrew to the widening of high-rise stairwells after the 9-11 attack on the WTC. It is a point of fact that many structural designs in the south eastern United States are driven not by live, dead, or wind loading, but instead by lateral loading; ie: earthquakes.
Earthquakes? Yes, earthquakes. The code in these areas had never addressed the issue of “well what happens when the ground moves?” because common knowledge dictated this was a none event. Common knowledge changed when geological research, oral tradition of native peoples, the accounts of early settlers beyond the Cumberland Gap, and advancements in cartography dictated that not only did a fault line exist in the middle of the North American Plate, but that it had a cyclical and violent quake history. As a result of this knowledge- the understanding that a big one was not only coming, but overdue- forced policy makers to change the building codes to accommodate this eventuality.
When we first started Abject Geekery I generated a list of “geek” topics I wanted to write about. The list was supposed to be a touchstone for me as the months went by to make sure that I was staying true to the “geek” nature of the site. As you all know by now, I was already on a trajectory of increased political activity. I have invested a lot of my time in poli-pursuits and this has really cut into my “geek” ones. That of course isn’t to say that the geek bug hasn’t bitten me, it is better to say that the when bitten the symptoms presented in political ways. This was definitely the case with the list item “Economics of Sector 001 – Who Pays For Star Fleet”, a work I have yet to pen a single line of, let alone publish. (Although I did make a doc file for it a couple of months ago).
The problem is that economic theory and political theory are so loosely inter-related. Where does the theory of Participatory Economics stop and the political ideology of Anarcho-Syndicalism begin? What is Communism an economic system or a political one? The research into something that does not exist (the socio-economic system of the 24th century as envisioned by Roddenberry) leads to a sifting through clues and subtleties for a kernel of truth. I have seen a shimmering reflection of things that I know blending with things that I hope. My journey over the past couple of months (cluttered by holidays and work work work) has taken me through an introduction to several new ideas and old concepts. (more…)
