nerdgirl

My experiences have been similar. In French cities – like cities around the world – one will encounter hectic rushed folks who aren’t interested in playing tour guide (when I was late for a meeting I had very little tolerance for American tourists in DC who couldn’t figure out standing on the left side of the Metro escalator is *verboten* -- “stand right, walk left” … “yes, even going up, some of us do walk *up* escalators … in heels” ) as well as helpful folks willing to indulge lost tourists. I’ve been to France 6 or 7 times (not counting transfers at CDG). I’ve never had a bad experience. One of my most treasured memories was a Sunday afternoon in Lyon in which I was out walking around the town and ran into an older man who started telling me stories about his memories of being a child liberated by American soldiers at the end of WWII. His English was much better than my very basic French, but we still managed to communicate. And I loved the TGV! VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Responding separately to the subject line – cause that I think is a more interesting question. 77,000 fatalities (& probably closer to 100,000)? Or compare the 1992 Landers earthquake in southern California (7.3) w/3 fatalities to the recent Sichaun earthquake in China (7.9) w/>69,000 fatalities. While there are lots of independent variables, the importance of institutions -- from first responders to enforcement of building codes -- is critical, imo. From a political perspective: one way to insure that “we all get along” in the short term is through oppressive despotic regimes. They do tend to be fairly stable in the short to mid term and people do get along because the repercussions of not doing so are severe, e.g., see DPRK or Saddam Hussayn’s Iraq. They also lack large scale creativity, innovation, economic growth, prosperity, civil rights … and freedom. (Anarchic regimes/failed states, while not stable, show similar lack of characteristics, e.g., see Somalia.) So what enables successful states in which the population (generally) gets along? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Disagree with your synopsized assertion. E.g., one might pose an equally synopsized assertion that Sen Obama advocates using the full component of the US’s power – from soft through hard power (aka what you agreed w/regarding diplomacy backed by a strong military). Sen Obama recognizes that. Whereas Sen McCain wants to expand unilateral assertion of hard power. i.e., military engagement as first, second, and third choices without recognizing the negative economic consequences for the US. Wouldn’t agree with the latter either … but it’s just as valid in over-simplified synopsized version. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

(With respect to the broader issues) Offend – no. Response depends. In the kind of specialized circumstances that you cite, that’s part of camaraderie. If someone outside one’s circle of friends/colleagues/team/family demeans something one values or one’s family/friends/colleague one frequently doesn’t think it’s “funny” any more. For a illustrative and highly incendiary example recall the uproar over the “General Petreaus or General Betray Us?” ad – I did not think that was funny, witty, or appropriate, and I highly doubt you (or many of the posters here) did either. Again illustratively, did you think all of the folks who objected to that ad should just “have had a sense of humor” or "grown a thick skin"? I find that intentionally inflammatory or derisive language choices – because they are choices after all; part of personal responsibility is being responsible for your personal choices – generally says more about the imprecision of the speaker, the baseness, or intent to appeal to lowest common denominator. Another example, 5 years ago when I was out in Monterey – < Hi Vinny! > – two of my colleagues/friends were offended by an image circulating near Thanksgiving in which President Bush’s face was Photo-Shopped over a soldier’s body in a picture taken at an Iraq FOB. It wasn’t a derogatory image. It appeared to have been based on a private image taken by someone there. And it didn’t make sense to me why they were offended initially. He was an active duty Army Major (now LTC) and she was a former enlisted soldier. They found it offensive that someone – even the President, who they support(ed) strongly – who was not a soldier was portrayed as being as soldier. There are times when harsh, aggressive language is appropriate; those tend to be the exceptions rather than the more frequently encountered examples. (With respect to the specific movie being protested) Protest is as American as archetypal ‘mom & apple pie.’ The more curious reactionary response to me is folks who seem offended that folks are offended/protesting/peacefully exercising 1st Amendment rights in a way that does not interfere with anyone else’s exercise of legal rights. If someone wants to spend their money watching that movie or spend their time protesting it, c’est la vie. Neither behavior is illegal, illicit, or immoral as far as I’m aware. I highly doubt I'll go see the movie or protest it -- just got a 3 volume set of books that I'd much rather spend my time reading. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

And anything with a nerve net (shrimp, earth worms), single axon (squid), or higher central nervous system would have a "soul" ... by that metric. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Thanks. There's no single algorithm or method that I apply -- beyond trying to get the widest views possible and a passionate obsession with primary data. Altho' I am intrigued by Mike's hypothesis. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Do you have an example link to a picture? During his trip to Beijing, I attributed some of it to the hot, humid weather rather than other explanations. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

What do you suggest, declare war on Russia? Send in 'advisors' in an undeclared police action? Send them a stern diplomatic note? (I think we did that). I find a lot of Americans have a problem with the concept that they are not omnipotent. Not all of us ... really. His statement also ignores (or possibly is just unaware) of a lot of the history and international community efforts, (i.e., such statements reflect what some might call historical revisionism). Just a few examples: Agreement on a Cease-Fire and Separation of Forces, 14 May 1994 Declaration on Measures for a Political Settlement of the Georgian/Abkhaz Conflict, 4 April 1994 UN Security Council Resolution 876: Abkhazia, Georgia, 19 October 1993 UN Security Council Resolution 881: Abkhazia, Georgia, 4 November 1993 UN Security Council Resolution 892: Abkhazia, Georgia, 22 December 1993 UN Security Council Resolution 896: On Possible Establishment of Peacekeeping Force in Abkhazia, Georgia and on Political Settlement of the Abkhazia Conflict, 31 January 1994 UN Security Council Resolution 906: On Extension of the Mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia and on Political Settlement of the Situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, 25 March 1994 UN Security Council Resolution 993: On Extension of the Mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia and Settlement of the Conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, 12 May 1995 Also must have missed, more recently, these: (1) Released today “Washington, DC – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) Statement on the Situation in Georgia” “Russian President Medvedev’s order to end Russia’s military operations against Georgia is a positive development, but this step must be followed by the withdrawal of Russian troops to the positions held before the conflict and by successful international mediation to restore peace to the region. The invasion of a small neighboring country closely allied with the United States does not serve Russian interests and is not in line with Russia’s announced intentions. Such aggressive behavior only increases tension and raises suspicion about Russian goals, while also creating a humanitarian crisis in an already volatile region. The United States, working with our allies in Europe and in the region, must send a message to Russia that its actions against Georgia are unacceptable.” (2) Released Saturday, 9 August Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Statement on Russian Action in Georgia: “The future of Georgia should be decided by the Georgian people. “The sooner Russian military action ceases, Russian forces are withdrawn, and Georgia's borders are respected, the sooner a settlement of Georgia's internal disputes can be achieved and regional security enhanced.” Those are strong statements, moreso when one recognizes that the State Dept and the Executive Branch is the official voice of the US federal government overseas, i.e., see from Monday “President Bush’s Discusses Situation in Georgia,” which says essentially the same thing as Sen Skelton and Rep Pelosi’s statements. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

This thread is evidence of conversations – even in the virtual – that are unlikely to have occurred had the lens of Olympics not brought the world’s focus … & Americans’ facilitated by the commercial media … to Beijing. Who do you think those myriad depictions on the internet are from? The international community. Do you remember the protests associated with the Olympic torch relay in Paris, in London, in Greece, in Malaysia, in Thailand, in San Francisco, in northern India (where many Tibetans exiles have fled), or in South Korea? (Concur with many that protesting the torch relay is not the most effective tactic but one cannot deny that there *were* protests internationally.) Folks worldwide … & quite a few across America … have been highlighting & protesting Chinese human rights abuses in Tibet (especially Tibet), in Xianjang, and against Fulan Gang members, restrictions on non-state sponsored churches; environmental degradation; forced displacement of millions through the Three Gorges Dam Project (long before the Olympics); ignoring the Chinese AIDS epidemic until recently; agianst China's tacit support of the genocide in Darfur; and repressive control of internet access for years. If you have been on almost any American campus in the last 10 years you would have to make substantive effort to *not* have heard vociferous protest of Chinese cultural genocide and human rights abuses in Tibet. International outcry against China is not new to many. Would I like to see more attention in the US to foreign affairs in the US? Yes. Would I like to see more attention in the US to human rights issues internationally and domestically (even if OCONUS)? Yes. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur to some part. Also would suggest that there are larger implications for the doctrine asserting the value of democractic governments, particularly for countries located in geo-strategically important regions of the world. Georgia has been moving -- albeit not without occasional sidesteps -- toward a more transparent democracy and democratic transition of power. It's touted as evidence of success of this political doctrine. Contrast that with the situation in Russia, in which most challenge how much power Putin has relinquished .. or with the situation in China, in which an authoritative regime transitioned control (from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao in 2002). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Officially, yes. Do you really believe that practically and meaningfully tho'? I'm genuinely curious as to your opinion. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Hmmmm ... not sure. Would be interesting to pursue more robustly -- & am confident someone/scholar/wonk has -- both, as well as substantive successful private sector experience, seem desirable. State executive experience seems to appeal to evidence of leadership experience as the archetypal focal point of large government bureaucracy. Otoh, federal legislative experience may afford tacit understanding of how to get things done on the federal level that one can't easily assimilate from the outside. Attribute it partially as an artifact of the US government system, which one doesn’t see in parliamentary style systems (get other adversarial relationships and artifacts in those systems). More than 1/3 of the US Presidents previously served as US Senators, some more notable ones: Presidents John Q Adams, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Slightly more State governors have gone on to serve as President. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

What qualifies as “much” for the economy? While I agree that the economic stimulus that the on-line porn industry saw may not reflect the goals behind the Economic Stimulus Act (ESA) of 2008 nor qualifies as “much” for the overall US economy, the reported benefits to the lagging construction industry are harder to discount. As to the “much” factors: the ESA has also been credited as largely being responsible for the small increase in growth over the quarter, 1.9%, compared to the previous quarter, 0.9%, (& some assert preventing a quarter of negative growth, one of the customary preliminary indicators of recession). Do I think the ESA was the best choice in the long run? No. That doesn’t, however, mean that one disregards the impact that it had. Was it as successful as Secretary Paulson had hoped? No; economists were looking for >2.4% increase due to the ESA (only got 1.9%). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Does it aply to Iraq as well, or only on those ocasions when it is most convenient. The US and Iraq are currently negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to try to deal with that issue once the current mandate expires (soon). It's more likely to me a bilateral rather than a full SOFA. One significant point of contention is reciprocal laws for private military security and other contractors. The US has SOFA's with 90 or so countries. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

How do you know that compassion isn't a by-product of evolution? If it is, it would probably (in the long run) end up being selected against. It's a trait that would have us expend our energy and resources on things that drag on us as opposed to give us an edge and help us survive. Perhaps if you re-consider your hypothesis a little you may see where/how compassion/altruism benefits the long term survival of the human species (think about reproduction and enabling your progeny to survive and reproduce in the future just to start, along with cooperative building). And that's not just speculation on my part. The disparate fields of sociobiology, philosophy, evolutionary psychology, & economic game theory deal directly with this. Just a few examples off the top of my head (when I first put responded to another thread

To paraphrase the late Carl Sagan: we are made of star-stuff.

I classify it more as an insurgency rather than domestic terrorism. --- --- -- --- --- Some background, for those who aren't familiar: The Uyghur uprising in western China dates back to the early 1990s. It goes back to the Afghan’s victory over the Soviets. China asserts that over 200 attacks occurred in Xinjiang, the Uyghur territory/homeland/geographic region, in which > 200 people were killed and ~500 were wounded (see, e.g., January 21, 2002 “East Turkistan Terrorist Forces Cannot Get Away with Impunity” Information Office of State Council; People’s Daily (9/13/2002) “FM Spokesman: ETIM a Wholly Terrorist Organization”). At least 8 groups have been described by Chinese, American, or scholarly sources as operating against the PRC in Xinjiang. China’s response to the Uyghur counterinsurgency has been brutal: reports of torture and summary executions have been rampant and persist (see e.g., Kahn, Joseph (12/3/2005) “Torture is ‘Widespread’ in China, U.N. Investigator Says” The New York Times; Human Rights Watch (1/18/2006) Human Rights Watch World Report 2006; Human Rights Watch (12/31/2005) “Essential Background Overview of Human Rights Issues in China”.) Anti-government violence in Xinjiang has overwhelmingly been a home-grown affair, although there were reports of insurgents being trained in Taliban Afghanistan and small/some amounts of outside funding. The height of the Uyghur insurgency in generally considered to have been the Yining uprising of 1997 in which >1000 Uyghurs rioted and over 150 were reportedly killed by Chinese security force excesses. China’s counterinsurgency strategy makes the USA PATRIOT Act look like a pinnacle of civil/human rights, by comparison. While the Chinese campaign was brutal, the campaign’s effectiveness is not attributed to that *brutality* (i.e., torture did not work), but rather due to counterinsurgency tactics and social policies that reached deeply into society’s grass-roots/local communities and (attempted to) reshape it from the bottom up. Such as influx of huge number of Chinese security forces and paramilitaries (estimated 100,000); influx of predominantly Han Chinese (estimate 9-10M, compared to ~8M Uyghurs); and building local institutions. Though education in Uyghur language is available in parallel schools, the Han language (Hanyu, also known as Mandarin) schools are increasingly chosen by Uyghur families – it’s seen as the language of upward economic mobility. (See, e.g., Xinhua (5-26-2003) “Role of Xinjiang Production, Construction Corps Important: White Paper”; People’s Republic of China, Information Office of the State Council (12/31/2006) “China’s National Defense in 2006” available through Xinhua; People’s Republic of China, Information Office of the State Council (12/27/2004) “China’s National Defense in 2004”; People’s Republic of China (2003) “China’s National Defense in 2002”; Shichor, Yitzhak (2004) “The Great Wall of Steel: Military and Strategy: in Starr, S. Fredrick (2004) Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland. M.E. Sharpe, Armonk; Shambaugh, David (2002) Modernizing China’s Military: Progress, Problems, and Prospects. University of California Press, Berkeley; Harold Brown et al. (2003).) VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

If you're looking for a large sign or single experiment - the closest is Stanley Miller-Harold Urey's now-classic experiment showing that amino acids, the building blocks of organic life, can be formed inorganically. These days there's *a lot* beyond that. The internet notwithstanding, the contentious debate is over direct abiotic synthesis of RNA or DNA versus biotic derivation of RNA/DNA from TNA or GNA (the latter are forms of RNA/DNA with other sugars). E.g., work from closer to you (University of Manchester) on the former: pre-biotic synthesis of RNA from Jack Sutherland's lab There are other people & more famous people working in the area, e.g., the late Leslie Orgel from Scripps; Sutherland is just the only Brit I know off the top of my head in the research area. Some other thoughts on prebiotic synthesis of amino acids. (And this is *way* beyond Stanley Miller-Harold Urey’s classic experiment.) It gets even more fascinating, im-ever-ho, when you start examining the intersection of organic synthesis and photocatalysis with early Earth geochemistry of reducing atmosphere. And that’s all terrestrial synthesis, other folks (mostly astrophysicists, like Lew Snyder, UIUC) are pursuing the search for amino acids in the interstellar medium, of which the component molecules have already found. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur. From your posts, it sound like you may be arguing from the perspective of formal (or classical) logic/logos or mathematical logic? Formal logic is heavily tied to inferences (inductive reasoning) rather than deductive processes. Inductive processes are part of the (formal) scientific method, whereas many (most?) mathematical theories are deductive. The problem -- perhaps semantics or precision versus vernacular usage -- is that until you have lots of publicly available, independently repeatable physical *evidence* supporting casuality, what one has is hypothesis (at best), notional speculation, or bad rumors (at worse) not scientific theory. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Doesn't everybody want to be one? Seems like everyone wants to create one. "Kilopounds" is one of my favorites. I want a unit of measure named after me - that would be really cool! (And with that comment I eliminated any doubt w/r/t the aptness of my moniker. ) I know one (living) guy, John Vitko (former director of Biological & Chemical Countermeasures in S&T Directorate at DHS), who has a unit named after him: a "Vitko" is a the number of dead people or casualties required for something to me a *mass* terrorism event. 1 Vitko = 10,000 fatalities or 100,000 casualties. A "marg" ... a measure of scientific soundness/policy ? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

History, ethics, & philosophy books – yes, imo. And most definitely ‘science in society’ books, e.g., the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM)’s “Science, Evolution, and Creationism,” (which was partially funded by your tax dollars through an independent agency created by President Lincoln). Chapter 3 & some of the other sidebars (e.g., pp. 13-15) include comments by Pope John Paul II, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Presbyterian General Assembly, and the Clergy Letter Project disputing the claim that evolution is in conflict with religious belief. I’m heartened to see that minister at my church has signed the latter. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

That’s pretty clever. Per capita employed lawyers may not be a bad measure of stability. It’s one sign/indicator of a robust civil (including criminal, as opposed to religious-based, ad hoc, or indisriminate) legal system. I’d be curious to see how the per capita ratio domestic law enforcement to lawyers varies across countries. What kind of systems does one observe when the denominator far exceeds the numerator and vice versa? Is there an ideal “range”? Neat link. Thanks. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Nope. Modern humans (H. sapiens sapiens) did not descend from apes (or monkeys or chimpanzees or bonobos; the latter two are the closest genetically). Modern humans descended from Australopithecus spp. The evolutionary lines of chimpanzees and humans split 5-7 million years ago. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I'm not sure which is the "bad" part? The creation of one-dimensional archetypes from fallible humans? Or knocking them off those pedestals? (And tieing back to the original theme of the post -- that willingness to re-examine our past may be a strength: Peters' would suggest that Americans don't cling rigidly to the archetypes of the past, thereby (1) not perpetuating historical animosities & (2) fostering a future directionality.) Can you provide some more specifics because I'm not sure to what you are referring w/r/t George Washington, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln (unless you mean the CA Tripp biography I cited?) ------ Tangentially related: I'm curious how many have heard of and how many have read Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States? Not if you *agree* with it. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The situation in which you describe -- while it may not reflect choices I would prefer -- does not indicate folks who were "poor". The scenario related above may more represent 'average' people, in fact. What do you (general, rather than specific, "you") do about it? Nothing is one option. (What countries' economies most look like that course of action?) How did the 'average'-esque household get to this situation? Less to blame and more to learn so as to try to decrease likelihood of repetition. As we all know pointing out problems is easy. Coming up with and implementing executable solutions is a whole 'nother endeavor. Well, there are several solutions: Individual responsibility. Much like [VTmotoMike08], you’ve identified another problem: personal responsibility or more specifically, a lack of individual responsibility. If we add greed, animosity/hatred, and apathy, we have the four mongrel dogs of mediocrity, who are led by the 5th – stupidity … and are probably attributable for 75% of human history. (They are the less sexy metaphorical cousins lap dogs to 4 horseman of the Apocalypse.) What is/are the policy solution to lack of personal responsibility? In resolving the mortgage crisis? Retroactively? Proactively? In the pending banking crisis? To consumerism? As I wrote before I went off into the backwoods of northern Michigan, for the last 25 or so years, consumerism and demand for new services has driven the US economy - the average consumers have spent largely without negative consequences for the overall economy. (Due to globalization, it's actually been good for the US economy & average consumers.) The crescendo of that 25 years of spending, in which barriers were progressively lifted (used to be called regulatory influences), is the subprime mortgage crisis. As long as the number of "average" households being irresponsible was some low number, it was absorbable by the economy. The "do nothing" scenario has the potential to lead to a tipping point in which the entire economy is negatively impacted, along with a lot of average people who didn't make poor decisions. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying