It's Technical...

I love technology.

I'm driving to Columbia, SC from Augusta and it strikes me that food would make a great traveling companion.

I pick up my phone and say "Popeyes."

Ten minutes later I'm feasting on the 10-piece special at 70 mph. 

Also, for $1.99, I downloaded an App that allows me to see how far I have to go to the green, no matter what hole or golf course I am on.  This makes my cell do the same thing as a device you can by for over $400.  Unfortunately, it only pretends to make me a better golfer.  (For that, I need a pencil with an eraser.)

Did you see how well the computer did on Jeopardy?  It beat the humans easily. This shows that a computer can search for information and come up with an answer in fractions of a second, regardless of the question.

This gave me an idea.  Every debate should have this computer do a quick fact-check on each answer given by someone debating.  It would then signal if the candidate made up the answer or if he answered truthfully. It will also have the option of saying, "I heard what you said and it does not seem to be related to the question asked."

I'd like to think that television news and radio talk show hosts would be subject to the same criteria.  After every comment, a mechanical voice would come on and say either, "correct" or "bullshit."

Bill O'Reilly, the guy sued for sexual harrassment (and he lost), or maybe you know him as the guy that wrote a book for your children.  Same guy.  Anyway, when confronted with putting out information he knew to be false, he said (I'm paraphrasing here) "Opinion guys don't have to be factual.  I'm an opinion guy."  He said this with a smile as if it made it okay for him to make stuff up.


This brings me to the NPR debate.  National Public Radio gets funding from the government, in part.  Recently, one of their top executives got caught on camera making fun of the Tea Party.  As a result, he quit.  But there is more to the story.

The tape that was made public was edited to make it appear that he said many other things that simply were not true.  It had him laughing at inappropriate comments etc.  The fact that the tape was edited in this way is not under dispute.  This means that everyone knows that what is in it is taken out of context.

Still, the Republican Party is taking edited sections of it and using it to try and defund NPR.

I have three problems with this.

First of all, NPR is just about the only talk radio show that is not controlled by Murdock (who owns Fox).  I can drive anywhere in the country and if I want to listen to talk radio, it's all about conservatives spouting off about Obama playing golf.  NPR is the only alternative.  If it's gone, the the GOP owns the radio airwaves coast to coast. (with the possible exception of the 5,000 gospel channels on AM)

Secondly, the GOP knows this tape has been altered and still they have decided to use it, all the while not mentioning that it has been altered. 

Thirdly, the GOP is holding this up as wasteful spending as if getting rid of it will balance the budget and show American how determined they are to set things right.  What they are not telling you is that all of the Mandatory budget items (Social Security, Medicare and Military) alone put us 1.5 trillion dollars in the hole.  The amount of money they and the democrats are arguing over is less than 5% of the total budget.  The NPR component is so small as to not be noticeable at all.'

The GOP chastises the President for picking a basketball team to win the NCAA tournament and then they put their nose to the grindstone and come up with...NPR.

This just in - Green light on bombing Libya. 

I like this for one main reason.  The U.N. Security Counsel finally voted to do something other than wag their finger.  Try this with Iran or North Korea.  "Anyone in favor of wagging a finger at North Korea and Iran....the ayes have it."  Next, ask if they want to bomb them back to the stone age and people start to fiddle with their earpiece, pretending not to have heard the question.

I'm not a fan of the violent solution.  But I am a fan of getting results.  Wagging fingers only results in tired fingers.

It would be great if the world voted that they should come to me for answers to all of the hard questions.

Then you'd see some world saving for sure.

Up, up and away...

jim

Heroes and Zeros

Imagine that your family, friends, home and everything that you own has just been washed away.

You go to work because you don't know what else to do.  Once there, they ask for volunteers.  What they are looking for is about fifty people willing to work in the dark, using only flashlights and hoses.

Their job: To put out a highly radio active nuclear fire. 

It might take days and they will probably die slow and agonizing deaths.

Still, they ask for volunteers and then - fifty people step forward.

They are fighting tonight as you and I sleep.  They fight to save people they don't know.  They fight because someone must.

Thank God there are better people in the world than me.

There are other heroes out there as well.  Take the peaceful protesters in Egypt.  They showed that you could overthrow a government without raising a hand against it.  They were beaten and shot and still they came back to protest, day after day.  Family members grieved for ones lost to the sword and yet...there were no regrets.

I think that in the United States, a country filled with heroes, we sometimes give trophies to the wrong people.

We have a political party whose stated primary goal is to cause the existing administration to fail.  I'm listening to talk radio today and actually heard a guy praise the GOP party for such a great strategy.  They are his heroes.

To me, they are cowards.  Them, along with the "unmentionables" that spout made up statistics to support their rants.  They attack when they know there will be no counter offensive.  Turn on Fox news. The very first person you see, is lying to you.  That person is a coward.  I don't pay homage to them and I wish others would not as well.

"Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes." Bertolt Brecht 

Back to Japan.

I think of the pettiness here and then look at their heroes...and wish I was a better man. 

For those that lost their lives in peaceful protest; for those who are dying as they fight a nuclear fire - to these fallen and falling heroes, I say...

Up, up and away.

Jim