Worms

A couple of weeks ago I had some stents put in after several cardiac veins started to fill up with unwanted plaque. Post procedure one of my goals is to try walking every day in order to exercise my body. The walking also gives me time to think, plot and plan my day and mentally to write such things as this blog. Walking through our neighborhood gives me lots of opportunity to observe and this morning I noted that at some time in the past the weather had called out lots of earth worms that then got caught on the sidewalk by the summer sun. The walk was littered with the desiccated remains of venturesome worms that had paid the penalty for extending themselves. For some reason I felt sorry for the each of those worm and with lots of walking and thinking time I contemplated the great mystery of life: Do worms have a soul?

Those thoughts conflated into the bigger question concerning what is it that drives some people to deny the existence in any other species other than themselves. It is characteristic of humans to realize that they have a soul and that it is the presence of that soul that sets us apart from all others. It’s that belief that because we can think, and reason, that we are special.

But other species have demonstrated the ability to think, and even to reason and there are uncountable examples of animals living and responding in ways that are similar to our ability to think, live and reason. So perhaps it is human kind’s ability to occasionally suspend reason that sets us apart?

Nearing the end of my walk I finally concluded that what we call soul is really awareness that we are aware of our awareness and of our existence. All creatures’ great and small have to be aware that they exist just to able to survive and reproduce so my stream of thought concluded that all who are aware of self must also (by our definition) have a soul.

I suspect that many who read these words will strongly object to my conclusion but that’s what makes us the multifaceted species we are. It also allowed me to escort the small insect I found while I enjoyed a morning cup of tea to the great outdoors so he/she/it could enjoy its existence.

People of the Book

The actions of the media reporting the resistance the people of Massachusetts to the burial of Tamarian Tsarnaev in their fair state demonstrates the ability of societies to demonize individuals and social groups.  It’s a human characteristic to view others as “different” and to be viewed with suspicion. And oddly enough Islamic religion spends a lot of its writings in the Koran demonizing others. A short walk through the books of the Koran can easily find comments calling others “animals”, “demons”, “living in filth” are just a few of the nicer things this religious tome says.

But there is one thought in the Koran that is repeated several time and is based on the simple fact that Islam acknowledges that much of its teachings are based of the philosophy of both Judaism and Christianity and in fact links all three religions as “people of the book”.

In my work as a mediator I have had the opportunity to mediate disputes between Sunni and Shia. Two branches of the religions that dislikes each other intensely and are often at odds with each other over minor issues. Each time I try to mediate these cases I have to listen to each party try to influence me while at the same time insisting that as a non Muslim I couldn’t possibly understand their predicament.

When I use the Arabic phrase Ahl el-Kitab in response to their diatribe they are startled, start wondering how a Westerner knows the Koran and Arabic they usually calm down, listen to me and start to discuss their issues. In truth I know almost no Arabic and couldn’t care less about the contents of the Koran, but I do know that people who believe the writings of their religion always respond positively to the thoughts found in their book.

In response to the actions of those who would deny a man, no matter how reprehensible, the respect afforded by a simple burial I can only repeat what I tell Muslims in dispute: We are all people of the book and are required to respect the values of others.  You might not like the individual but you must respect his right to fair treatment both  under the law and as a statement of our social commitment.

Autonomous Cars

I read a recent article that talked about the virtues of “autonomous cars” and what a brave new world the future would be if only all cars were self controlled.

I started reading the article because the title was intriguing and I was curious why the author choose to use a somewhat obscure word to describe efforts and goals for making cars more self sufficient and ultimately capable of going from point A to point B without any human input.

The planners envision a future with drivers doing office work, reading the news and perhaps even taking a nap while the vehicle does all the work. They tell us that cars will not get into accidents, travel will be more efficient, gas mileage will be better and efficiency will improve.

I see their future dream as one more step towards removing control from the human loop. The futurists who are selling this concept belong to a culture that wants to centralize authority to “those who are more capable than the common man”  and taking the right of each one of us to decide how and in what manner we choose to lead our lives…and knowingly responsible for the results of those decisions.

I know that driving from one place to another is a minor task but I would much rather depend on the awareness of a human being rather than the known fact that electronics fail at the worst possible time, with the worst possible consequences.

As for autonomous cars we already have that capability. If you don’t want to drive you can usually take the bus or hire a taxi.

Just a Thought

We have been on vacation and have little opportunity to update the blog, but the events in Boston have made me think about what constitutes terrorism and who the players are.

I find it most striking that the President can't seem to get energized when he talks about the bombs and the action the government is (should) be taking to find the perpertrators responsible. When he talks I get the feeling that he is bored and uninterested in the subject and is just talking about the problem because it's an expected thing for him to do. I wish I were wrong, but it goes along with his style of government by fiat and demonizing of any one who questions his tactics.

Perhaps he isn't interesting in pursuing the subject of terrorist bombings because his close friend and Chicago mentor, Bill Ayers made his reputation by being a domestic terrorist and is still proud of the actions he took as a younger man. To this day Ayers has refused to do anything other than brag about his history and still considers a bomb to be a political statement.

Since the Presidential thinking is much influenced by the Chicago political code it appears that deep down he doesn't see any problem with terrorism as a political tool.

A Change of Pace

My brother spent several years as a senior manager at Yosemite and I'm sure he saw these scenes every day.

The park is a beautiful place...enjoy the link

                 http://vimeo.com/40802206

The Peter Principle

Two events demonstrate the hubris of the political class in this country. Nancy Pelosi has come out as opposed to the congressional pay cut that is mandated by the administration proposed sequestration as "undermining the dignity of the job". I wonder what the reaction would be if I used that same statement if someone offered me a reduction in salary! Of course her comment comes on the heels of a statement she made last week that the economy was not in trouble because of "overspending", it needed just needed adjusting because of a "budget deficit".

The best illustration of political hubris came while watching the State of the Union dog and pony show. One Australian writer compared the attitude and actions of Mr. Obama to the actions of Captain Queeg in the novel.  "The Caine Mutiny". For those of you who have not read the book it is a beautiful description of a naval officer who has been promoted beyond his level of competence and freezes up when presented with events he has no understanding of or ability to react to. Queeg almost allows his ship to founder when he refuses to take any action other than to repeat previous orders that have proved ineffective during a typhoon.

Faced with what looks like an epic fiscal typhoon Mr. Obama has done nothing at all other than repeating pseudo-Keynesian fiscal mantra that are nothing more than repetition of failed ideas. His inability to recognize the issues his policies have created suggest that he is seriously deficient in mental agility and certainly unwilling to listen to other opinions and suggestions.

Watching him I'm struck by his visible lack of concern and his smug, self evident sense of his own greatness
His programmatic response to the coming debacle is to blame others and to ask for increased taxes on those he calls "the rich". A cursory look at economics reveals, to me, that there are not enough "rich" people to  lower the debt to any measurable extent.

The Laffer Curve, as applied in President Reagan's administration demonstrated quite well that the way to improve the economy and lower the deficit is to lower taxes. But the political class in this country is committed to the idea that only by doing the same failed thing over and over will the economy improve.

That's not economics....that's insanity.

Damn Their Eyes

The past few weeks I've been dealing with insurance problems and I'm becoming expert on the things insurance people can do to keep from paying a claim. Granted the greater proportion of claims are paid in a timely manner but in every industry there are people who seem to delight in making life hard for those they deal with.

The National Flood Insurance Program is a federally mandated and underwritten program that is administered by FEMA who ultimately pay out on all flood damage claims. Commercial insurance companies and local agents write and service flood policies but their risk is minimal and their economic exposure is infinitesimal. Nevertheless I have had scores of people telling me about their issues with the insurance company.

Could you produce a sales receipt for the coach you bought 20 years ago? And if you could find where you had filed that ancient receipt what do you do when all your records were washed away in the flood. But it seeems to be a requirement by some companies that if you can't produce a receipt for every item they will deny the entire claim...until you can prove when you bought and how much you paid for the item.

Then there are the companies that claim that their adjuster, the person who looked at your loss and wrote it up has never sent them the paperwork. Three months later and they never bother to tell you that their agent failed to do his job! And of course there are the companies who just never perform. The client keeps calling and they always tell them "next month" until someone (usually the client) gives up in dispair after using his own funds to pay for repairs the insurance is supposed to cover.

None of this is FEMA's fault, they are depending on the insurance companies to do their job. But when the client is at the end of their tether they usually end up talking to me since I'm usually the first human contact they can reach. I can help, I can refer to higher authority, but I cannot give the people back the time they have lost while waitng for the insurer to do the job in a timely manner.

That's not the worst of the crimes some companies commit. All mortgage companies require that purchesers of property within a defined flood zone have both property and flood insurance in force. It's logical that they want to protect their invesment. On more than one occasion I've been approached by a homeowner who was sold "flood insurance" by their mortgage ccomapany, with the particiption of an insurance company that was nothing more than a declining balance mortgage insurance. After the flood has totaled their home the couple who had been sold "flood insurance", and it said so in bolded letters on the insurance policy get a letter saying that the mortgage on their house had been paid off and that they were responsible for any and all repairs to the house.

Words fail me.