Oct 9 2014

UK begins borrowing in Chinese Yuan — dangerous thing to do?

The Treasury of the United Kingdom has noted that it has begun trading bonds in the Chinese Yuan.

Why is this a concern? The concern is two-fold: one, the currency and economy is centrally planned and manipulated in the People’s Republic of China. Not only is this in direct contradiction of the free-market model of the Western world — and not only is this validated by the Western world by sovereign funds trading in yuan; but this is also a concern of the authoritarian regime having a bigger centrally-planned grasp on Western economies, that is supposed to be relatively free from governmental controls past base consumer and business regulation.

Further, a serious concern is the manipulation of the currency itself by the Chinese government. Quite often, it depresses the yuan compared to the United States dollar, to inflate the US’ trade deficit with the PRC. Inso doing this, while it may be doing it strictly for the sake of manipulating its debt compared to the US currency, the reserve currency of the world, as it sits today — is the United States Dollar; and devaluing its currency compared to the US Dollar manipulates its value across the board. Is the United Kingdom taking a willing part in letting the PRC government manipulate its own currency and economic status by taking the yuan on as an informal reserve?

Americans with Ebola Released From Hospital… But…

The fact that the Americans who contracted Ebola and returned to the United States for treatment — and have now been released from the hospital after apparently recovering should be a cause for celebration. We now have a potential cure for such a devastating disease.

However, there are those who have said that it took Americans to get sick to come up with a cure for the disease. To a point, that’s kinda true — however…

The Scientific Method

As a scientist myself [admittedly in my own crack-pot, not-yet-a-REAL-doctor, amateur, Emmett-Brown kinda way], there’s one thing drilled into the psyche of every scientist: be it a surgeon, a researcher, a social scientist or a biologist: the Scientific Method. “Real” research takes time, indeed, often a lifetime’s worth of testing, re-testing, hypothesizing, re-hypothesizing, failures, and successes, before the fruit can be borne. Indeed, Albert Einstein’s own “Great work” which he died writing, is still being written even now by his successors! [That being a revision of general relativity, essentially.]

It takes a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort to come up with true scientific data, particularly when it comes to that of real scientific progress, as opposed to an undergraduate paper being written the night before its due.

It *did* take Americans getting sick to get approval for the drug, “ZMapp” to be released, it would seem — but… it’s still untested. Its side effects, if any, are unknown. Could Ebola be completely wiped out of the body by the drug? Or, could the treatment be similar to how HIV is treated: where it can be functionally eliminated, but still “hide” in the body somewhere, and when treatment stops, the virus gains a foothold on you again. We simply don’t know.

The FDA’s “Compassionate Use” protocol allowed those who knew full-well the risks involved, indeed, scholars in the area themselves, to take part in treatment, knowing that further down the road could bring more problems. What if there is some side-effect that the medication has that winds up causing problems down the road? Could it be an unknown carcinogen? Could it degenerate the brain? That’s what painstaking research and the scientific method is all about — and that’s exactly why it takes years for drugs to be made available for everyone.

Is the system perfect? Of course not. Do “bad drugs” still slip through the system? Of course. But its BECAUSE of the system of test, re-test, test again, test repeating and re-testing the test results that people don’t die from new drugs every day. I herald the day that these people were allowed to go home and continue their recovery, indeed, I celebrate it — Ebola DIDN’T lose two of its most prominent soldiers fighting against it, and indeed, I’m willing to bet that these individuals may find a renewed determination in fighting this terrible disease because of their experience. But, it doesn’t mean that Americans get “preferential” treatment just-because. The rest of the world isn’t a petri dish for the American way of life. We care too — which is exactly why untested drugs don’t go to just “anyone.”

Aug 13 2014

Asteroids are fine… BUT…

“Have Americans Given Up On Space?“
— Topic of Fareed Zakaria

Yes — and No. The retirement of the Space Shuttle, without a conceivable and cemented-in-plans vehicle replacement, my fear is that the love of space has been lost in America — for now.

While the prospect of landing on an Asteroid, and even controlling its direction is a laudable and heady goal — it’s my feeling that this isn’t quite what people want to see.– at least in an exclusive goal.

With this in mind, I believe an eye back to the Moon should be the most urgent goal, with a plan of permanent colonization, similar to the Space Station. Indeed, not only could it serve as a model for an eventual Martian research colonization, but indeed, the Lunar outpost could serve as a “pit stop” on the way to Mars to pick up supplies previously launched.

A goal of settling the Moon with a research team, as a model for a similar Martian research colony could do a lot to buoy American and world confidence in the Space Program again; and the return to progress, as opposed to the perception of figuratively spinning our wheels in space exploration…

…what do you think?

Jul 9 2014

Why I became an Amateur Radio Operator…

I grew up exposed to all kinds of cool stuff, computers, telecommunications technology… getting to get my hands on government, commercial and military grade equipment as a kid (all above board, of course…) It was great!

QSL Card from His Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan

One particular interest of mine was Amateur Radio. My Dad was always on it, made all kinds of friends from all over the place and making contacts all over the world, including King Hussein of Jordan [Callsign JY1], Patty Loveless [Call ex-KD4WUJ] and I as a kid even got to talk to Astronauts and Cosmonauts on the Space Shuttle and the Space Station! Indeed, some of the oldest friends of my family, and of my own, are/were Amateur Radio operators.

Realizing I was approaching my 30s and never having been licensed for such awesome stuff, and it having played a big part of my life. Why not get in on it? Why not enjoy the fun too? This was further expanded on by my friend Emmett Plant and a group he founded called TrekFan, which gives away a “starter kit” for those who are interested in Amateur Radio. I received by Gordon West book, my Baofeng UV-5R and a Raspberry Pi to begin some Amateur Radio over IP stuff with in the future.

After a couple of weeks of study, I took and passed my Technician Class license exam on 03 June 2014, getting my original callsign exactly one week later from the FCC.

In disasters ranging from Earthquakes, to Hurricane Katrina to 9/11, when communications go down, the last line of defense is Amateur Radio.

Tomorrow will be exactly one month since I got licensed, and I’ve already made new great friends, and reconnected with other ones I knew through Dad. I’ve still got a lot of learning to do, but I’m having a LOT of fun doing it. 😀

73 from KA9PAZ 😀

I bet you know a few Amateur Radio Operators — and don’t even know it!

KC5ZSU-SK, Captain Laurel B. S. Clark, M.D.

– FO5GJ-SK, Marlin Brando [Actor]

– EA0JC-SK, King Carlos I [former King of Spain]

– KD5ESI-SK, Dr. Kalpana Chawla [Died aboard Space Shuttle Columbia]

– KC5ZSU-SK Captain Laurel Blair Salton Clark, M.D., USN [Died aboard Space Shuttle Columbia]

– KC5ZTC-SK, Captain David M. Brown, USN [Died aboard Space Shuttle Columbia]

– KG4UYY, Lance Bass [Singer]

– W5CY-SK, Howard Hughes [Business magnate, aerospace engineer]

– KB2SGD-SK, Walter Cronkite [Media personality]

– G3UML, Laurie Margolis [BBC Anchor]

– 9DRV-SK, David Packard [Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard]

– NY6YOS, Priscilla Presley [wife of Elvis Presley]

– K1OKI, Mickey Schulhof [Head of Sony USA]

– K2HEP, John Sculley [Former CEO of Pepsi and Apple Computer]

JY1, King Hussein of Jordan

– KA7EVD, Donnie Osmond [Singer]

– UA1LO-SK, Colonel Yuri Gagarin [First man in space]

– VU2SON, Sonia Ghandi [Indian Politician]

May 27 2014

The US War in Afghanistan draws to a[n official] close…

Fifteen years after the events of 9/11, when United States military forces were deployed to Afghanistan shortly after — the US War in Afghanistan will be over.

President Barack Obama announced a plan for the remainder of 2014 and beyond of the United States military presence in Afghanistan. Stating that the official conflict itself would be over at the end of the current year. The current number of troops listed by the White House, as of today, is 50,000. By the end of the year, that number will be reduced to less than 10,000. The remaining forces will be reduced gradually through 2015, to a complete withdrawal by the end of that year.

While the sitting President of Afghanistan, outgoing President Hamid Karzai has stated he would not sign the upcoming Status of Forces Agreement, the two individuals currently seeking election to become the nation’s newest Chief Executive have said they are both willing to cooperate with the United States on this timetable, according to Deutsche Welle.

A war that’s far exceeded the time-table of virtually any strategist, that will have included four presidential terms [both Bush and Obama’s terms] and has resulted in a shattering blow to the Taliban and its insurgency, and its oppressive government, and even the death of Osama Bin Laden — for all the good and bad that’s come, is finally coming to a close.

While this is the beginning of the end of the War — the beginning of the War on October 7, 2001 was launched with orders, and an address from President George W. Bush:

May 18 2014

The Average American Taxpayer pays… WHAT?

If you’re a taxpayer in the United States, you may find it interesting how much you actually pay to businesses and other interests you already pay money to…

Thanks to some compiling by Moyers & Company, and a couple of other sources; I’ve put together a list:

– A policy analysis from the Cato Institute from 2012 shows that the United States Federal Government loses about $100 Billion a year to corporate subsidy, on everything from energy, to the food and housing industries. With the methodology of 115 million families, that’s over $800 a year.

– The State and Local Governments themselves are different picture. The New York Times ran an investigation that determined that State and Local (i.e., the County and City/Town level) gave on average $80 Billion. That adds up to be almost $700 per year.

– Retirement Banking Fees are another hefty loss for taxpayers — on average costing over $350 per year; which assumes a 1% management fee per year of one’s retirement fund, and a middle-range percentile retirement fund amount as cited by the Economic Policy Institute was assumed to be about $35,000.

– A report by the International Monetary Fund reports that over $83 Billion winds up in interest payments on loans and banking. That accounts to $722 per year. A further sobering fact: the five wealthiest banks in the world, JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs account for THREE QUARTERS of these subsidies!

– Overpriced Medications were a surprise to me on this list — while the notion itself was not, the amount certainly was. A study conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that US drug patent monopolies raises the price of prescription medications in the US by over $270 Billion per year! That translates to over $2000 per year.

– $870 per year goes to corporate tax subsidies, which total about $100 Billion per year, as mentioned by The Tax Foundation. This includes everything from depreciation, and even experimental tax credits.

– Corporate Tax havens are a very serious problem. Indeed, the US Public Interest Research Group found that the average taxpayer family paid $1231 per year to offset the losses by those [such as large banks and wealthy individuals] who offshore their monies to avoid taxation.

According to my calculations, that’s $4873 PER YEAR. Almost five thousand dollars; assuming an average income of about $50,000.

Consider these numbers, when one looks at what they pay out for social programs:

– The Examiner released some information in 2012 about what Americans pay in social programs, such things as Education, etc. A complete list can be found at that link, but leaving out the costs of Defense [as the Military Contract Industry is another racket in and of itself…], the costs turned out to be LESS than $500 PER YEAR. This accounts for everything including Veterans Benefits spending, Housing, SSI, and even things like our contributions to the Railroad Retirement Fund!

…who should you *really* be mad at when it comes to who can’t afford what? Where *IS* the “Big Government,” really? I’ll let you decide.

I freely admit, I’ve abridged *some* information — mostly, related to Defense in Social Spending, but that, to me, doesn’t count… and even then, admittedly, is only another $250 per year. I also admit, I rounded *UP* on those figures — so the *actual* costs for Social Programs, are ACTUALLY a little lower. But I’m a fair guy.

All of a sudden, the political cartoon above isn’t so ridiculous, is it?

I want to especially thank Moyers & Co., and Paul Buchheit for their work on compiling some of this data.

May 13 2014

China set to surpass the US Economically This Year — Wait, not so fast…

US and China – 2011. Courtesy: WSJ Click for Larger.

While it’s true that the economy of People’s Republic of China [PRC] is indeed set to surpass that of the United States “soon,” [some estimates even say by the end of the current year] — that’s really not that important. Here’s why:

The United States has held the top economic spot in the world for well over 120 years. It turns out, if you count everything but sheer “mass money,” America still is the largest economy — and still will be for quite some time. Here’s why:

Firstly, the Chinese market and economy is manipulated and controlled directly by the Chinese government. While a lot of what goes on in China that involves international trade or business goes on in “Special Economic Zones” [which are areas that involve far less government intervention than anywhere else], its relatively safe to say that the Chinese economy, as such, is otherwise centrally planned and managed. The world knows this, and this is something born in mind in any economist, businessman/businesswoman or otherwise when considering the economic power of the PRC.

Secondly, PPP. Fareed Zakaria aptly demonstrates that the Purchasing Power Parity of the United States still far exceeds that of the PRC. Indeed, Fareed’s demonstration of the same loaf of bread in China being bought for $1.66, compared to that of $2.39 on average in the States. Further, his example of the cost of utilities, on average being a third the cost in the PRC compared to a similarly sized home in the US also further demonstrates the US’ superior PPP standing.

Quite so, when one analyzes the PPP of the US and China, China could combined its PPP with that of JAPAN and still not exceed that of the United States. Indeed, China’s still not able to bank on its PPP — it has to pay for everything at the prevailing exchange rate — not the rate based on its PPP, unlike the US. And this is just one singular example.

So… is China really overtaking the US economically? In the words of Tom Wright at the Wall Street Journal, “Yes and No.” You decide.

Further Reading:

– Tom Wright. China’s Economy Surpassing U.S.? Well, Yes and No – The Wall Street Journal Blog

– Chung-Tong Wu. China’s special economic zones: five years later – Asian Journal of Public Administration

– Fareed Zakaria Is China really about to overtake the US? – Fareed Zakaria 360 – Global Public Square

Apr 28 2014

Anti-Airbrushing Laws = …why?

Jessica Alba – Left Original, Right Retouched. Photo Courtesy Campari.

Recently, the internets have been abuzz regarding possible Anti-photoshopping/Anti-extreme photoshopping use in advertisements, claiming that ad agencies and companies are overusing photoshop and other airbrushing tools to make people self-conscious as to how they feel about themselves, because of unrealistic images given by ads.

I see two problems with this:

One, virtually everyone knows that advertising is always over-done, airbrushed, polished and given the best possible view as to what an item is. That $1 sandwich on TV isn’t what it looks like, usually… the car on TV isn’t always driving at 110 MPH on the road, with a license plate that matches the color of the vehicle, likewise, women aren’t all D-cup, 115 pound blondes of walking sex.

As we speak, Congress is currently considering the Truth in Advertising Act, which would, among other things reign in on airbrushing and excessive photoshop effect usage in advertisement — a good idea on the surface… but…

That having been said, doesn’t the legislature have enough problems to deal with? Past consumer education on what *I* [admittedly…] consider non-issues, don’t we have Veterans Health benefits to worry about? What about school funding? Are we to believe that the government’s partisan infighting is over?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m for political-correctness… but… isn’t this taking it too far? Particularly when we have bigger issues to tackle in Congress? I mean, I’m a guy, so I’m not on the receiving end of a LOT of what society puts on people to be “pretty, sexy and hawtt,” but… what say you?

Apr 22 2014

What I learned… Laurel Sprague

A lot of the time in high school, I called my Info-Tech teacher, Wanda Smith “Mom.” She always kinda looked out for me, and even busted my chops a few times when I got things wrong — drastically wrong, one time… When I graduated high school, I got a card from Wanda that said “You’re like a Son to Me…” and it contained wonderful words of encouragement on my future to come. After my mother died, Wanda, of course, in the status as “High School Mom” kept a watch on me… “I’m still Mom #2!” she’s said once or twice.

Coming up on graduation yet again — as I enter the final stretch, Laurel Sprague’s likely the one who holds the status of “College Mom,” as Wanda did and does for me from High School. While I’ve only known her a little over two years, Professor Sprague and I hit it off right away as colleagues — spending up to an hour talking outside of class after class was over, frequently late to commitments we had after class because we had such interesting conversations on everything from political theory to adjunct faculty policy.

What I learned from Professor Sprague…

Over the summer after a class we had, she invited me to a lunch, asking how I was doing, how I did otherwise in my classes that term, and if I had any constructive criticism or statements on the class I had with her. I was fortunate enough to even land an internship with her that day, too!

I found myself under her tutelage again this semester, which ended today — on Contemporary Political Theory. While I’m far more versed (and comfortable, admittedly with the Classics of Political Theory, especially Social Contract stuff) — the good Professor saw I was having trouble almost right away. “You’re not your usual, talkative self in class, Samuel!” she said at one point in one of our many after-class meetings. After I said that this was a little out of my comfort and experience zone [in that I’d not studied much on the contemporary stuff we were covering] she offered to tutor me during her office hours, which, sadly conflicted with my work schedule — but I kept up the best I could.

This was a rough semester for me. Between full-time work, more than a full time courseload, and all of a sudden now working full-time on a campaign too… but then presenting at our school’s largest academic conference, TOO, I found myself in a very precarious position. I was spread far too thin, and I had finally reached my breaking point. While I didn’t break, I was *very* frayed… and in danger of it. Things were further complicated with some personal problems, including a heart attack my father suffered in the last week of classes — when things were down to the wire. While everyone, including the good Professor, was nice and even gave me some leeway on things due and presented that week because of it, the good Professor Sprague, being the unique individual she is, kept tabs on me. At one point, she even ordered me to “Go home, and get some sleep,” because she could see I needed it. She’s even let me poke fun at her once or twice with what I commissioned as the #Laurelmeme:

I learned a lot from this woman — and while I’ve definitely earned better grades in her classes [even when she cut me some slack!] before, I’ve not only expanded my comfort zone a little in my theorizing, but I’ve also made a friend for life, I think.

While I don’t qualify for any more of her classes, I have a feeling I’m still going to be “reporting in” to the good Professor Sprague in the future.

Thanks for everything you’ve done for me — and for all your students, teach. Serious students look for serious teachers like you to take the lessons they learn from you through the rest of their lives. 🙂

Memorable Quotes:

“In Locke’s world, things aren’t so bad! In Hobbes’ world, it’s DEADLY.”

“Because when we’re talking about the Leviathan… it’s this big… monstrous… THING [emphatically gestures “largeness” with her hands and arms] from which there is no escape.”

Apr 13 2014

For Behold: The power of political incumbency?

Cynthia Brim, a Cook County, Illinois judge was suspended in 2012, after a series of bizarre incidents wound up having her declared “legally insane.”

Judge Cynthia Brim

While the board investigating this incident (a panel made of two judges and two civilians) continue to investigate and determine her plausibility to stay on the bench, not only is she continuing to collect her nearly $200,000 a year salary while on suspension — she’s since won RE-election to the bench.

Reportedly having been hospitalized for mental-related illnesses nine times since 1994, including after having gone catatonic during an official proceeding, the major problem came after she assaulted two Deputy Sheriffs; one was struck by her, and another was thrown a set of keys in an allegedly dangerous manner.

While her case continues to be evaluated, she continues to serve as a suspended judge — meaning she takes no cases, but receives all the pay and honors of a member of the bench; and indeed, has since been RE-elected.

Does this say something about the power of political incumbency? I encourage you to do your own research and find out.

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The Universe According To Samuel Cummings

Four out of Five Dentists recommend Samuel Cummings.

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