I sat and watched a video interview deal that a student team did on George Mason University (a significant university in Virginia). The topic? They walked around the university and asked dozens of college students why the US was attacked on 9-11.
The typical answer? Most students said they didn't know the reason which triggered 9-11. A handful commented that it was George Bush's fault, but they rendered a one-star explanation. They then asked the students if there should be classes to talk more on 9-11....which almost all of them agreed that would be good thing.
So, the video in the end points out.....these were all people who were around age four when 9-11 occurred. Their knowledge level is non-existent....of an event which occurred less than twenty years ago.
The blame toward Bush? You could have a laugh over the answer given. The same guy would give similar answers over the banking crisis, the housing market collapse, and various oil tanker accidents....in my humble opinion. A smart guy in the background ought to quickly jump up and note that Bush was responsible for the Nazis coming to power, the riots in Detroit in the late 1960s, the trigger to causing the Vietnam War, and helped to send the iceberg into the path of the Titanic.
Friday, 11 September 2015
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
"Person of Interest"
Around the Christmas holidays of 2011, I had to do a trans-Atlantic flight, which means eight or nine hours in a cramped plane and the only entertainment is the video offering. I sat and saw some five episode deal of a new CBS show....Person of Interest. After viewing the original show, and the next four episodes....I had an interest in it. For the remainder of the 2011 season, I probably watched a total of a dozen episodes. After that, I just didn't have time to view it.
This past six weeks....I've been using Netflix and caught up with all the episodes of the first three seasons. A fourth season was done for last year, and CBS has agreed to produce roughly a dozen episodes for what they believe is the final year.
After watching the sixty-six-odd episodes....I'm at a point where I'm keenly into the series. On several levels....they've screwed up and accidentally produced a five-star series loaded with mistakes. Viewership isn't where it should be and CBS thinks they are doing a good thing to let the series wrap up the ending. There's talk that Netflix or Amazon might be in the background.....ready to pick up the series and run it for a season or two. Maybe if huge numbers come up for Person of Interest over the final dozen episodes.....CBS might wake up and carry it for another season or two.
The big screw-ups?
1. The name doesn't work. It should have been "Man and Machine" or "Man in a Suit". Person of Interest has zero appeal.
2. The use of music within the video? For the first season, they marginally did a good job on this. For a couple of season two episodes....they did a five-star job and the rest fell between a two-star and four-star. They should have hired some smart guys to gear music to the scenes.
3. A lot of this storyline is about Artificial Intelligence (A-I). For a large segment of the audience....they needed a real introduction to the science. I think somewhere in the middle of season two, they woke up and did some explanations but they wasted tons of opportunities.
One of the big problems with the series is that you have to watch each single episode because they are laying down bits and pieces of secondary stories. If you missed two or three episodes from season one, and two episodes from season two.....you'd be in hurt-status for grasping season three.
So, I'm kinda hoping that the series survives the short season, and someone picks it up.
This past six weeks....I've been using Netflix and caught up with all the episodes of the first three seasons. A fourth season was done for last year, and CBS has agreed to produce roughly a dozen episodes for what they believe is the final year.
After watching the sixty-six-odd episodes....I'm at a point where I'm keenly into the series. On several levels....they've screwed up and accidentally produced a five-star series loaded with mistakes. Viewership isn't where it should be and CBS thinks they are doing a good thing to let the series wrap up the ending. There's talk that Netflix or Amazon might be in the background.....ready to pick up the series and run it for a season or two. Maybe if huge numbers come up for Person of Interest over the final dozen episodes.....CBS might wake up and carry it for another season or two.
The big screw-ups?
1. The name doesn't work. It should have been "Man and Machine" or "Man in a Suit". Person of Interest has zero appeal.
2. The use of music within the video? For the first season, they marginally did a good job on this. For a couple of season two episodes....they did a five-star job and the rest fell between a two-star and four-star. They should have hired some smart guys to gear music to the scenes.
3. A lot of this storyline is about Artificial Intelligence (A-I). For a large segment of the audience....they needed a real introduction to the science. I think somewhere in the middle of season two, they woke up and did some explanations but they wasted tons of opportunities.
One of the big problems with the series is that you have to watch each single episode because they are laying down bits and pieces of secondary stories. If you missed two or three episodes from season one, and two episodes from season two.....you'd be in hurt-status for grasping season three.
So, I'm kinda hoping that the series survives the short season, and someone picks it up.
Stonehenge II?
If you drive for roughly two hours west of London.....you will eventually reach Durrington....a small town with only one significant feature....Stonehenge.
I made the trip twenty-odd years ago. You come over the top of some hill....and you look down to the right of the road, on a very low-grade slope, and you can see the stone monument off in the distance. But you typically think of....at least in my case.....it's all a big cow-field. Just open farm land with grass growing.
My little group spent about 90 minutes at Stonehenge.....walking the circle. Once you've been there....you realize there's no reason much to return.
Well, this week....some researchers noted that they've found more to the whole Stonehenge thing.....except a much bigger site.
Around two miles from the current site....is this mostly buried site, with around ninety big stones (all buried, of course). They note the depth of the stones to be at least three feet under surface.
So, there are some basic facts, and then a lot of mystery.
They calculate that this was Stonehenge II (to have occurred after the original smaller episode). They also calculate that this all occurred around 4,500 years ago (2500BC). They also calculate that some of the buried stones are fifteen feet tall.
Purpose? Unknown.
What folks have come to say is that Stonehenge I (the smaller site) was developed as a mystic ritual site and people were told far and wide that if you made a walk (like the Catholic Saint James Way from the center of Europe to the far west end of Portugal)....that some higher power would help in your life, cure ills, bring good luck, and and lift your outcome in life.
It's believed that a large assortment of people in Europe would find their way to Stonehenge.....bringing sick relatives with them, and believed that the mystic charm of the site would do something.
Why was Stonehenge II (the new site) buried? No one is sure if it was buried intentionally (three feet of dirt is a lot). There's no flood area there, and there's no possibility of landslides to disrupt site. There's no possibility of a volcano being involved (as in Crete's case). So you are left with the idea that some guys put a lot of effort into burying the site.
I would take a humble guess that some event occurred....of a pretty harsh and negative nature. Enough people were standing there and believed that the Stonehenge II site was 'cursed', and they decided that it was best to bury it and never walk those grounds again. A disease? A plague? Who knows? The fact that thousands made the journey from Europe to Stonehenge I....meant hundreds probably had a disease and passed it along via the trail to Stonehenge. It was only a period of time before a large segment of visitors would arrive and be seriously ill while visiting the original site.
So, I'd suggest to the research guys.....broaden the search pattern slightly and look for a burial ground within a couple of miles of the second and newer site. Once you find a large assortment of burials....look for clues.
I made the trip twenty-odd years ago. You come over the top of some hill....and you look down to the right of the road, on a very low-grade slope, and you can see the stone monument off in the distance. But you typically think of....at least in my case.....it's all a big cow-field. Just open farm land with grass growing.
My little group spent about 90 minutes at Stonehenge.....walking the circle. Once you've been there....you realize there's no reason much to return.
Well, this week....some researchers noted that they've found more to the whole Stonehenge thing.....except a much bigger site.
Around two miles from the current site....is this mostly buried site, with around ninety big stones (all buried, of course). They note the depth of the stones to be at least three feet under surface.
So, there are some basic facts, and then a lot of mystery.
They calculate that this was Stonehenge II (to have occurred after the original smaller episode). They also calculate that this all occurred around 4,500 years ago (2500BC). They also calculate that some of the buried stones are fifteen feet tall.
Purpose? Unknown.
What folks have come to say is that Stonehenge I (the smaller site) was developed as a mystic ritual site and people were told far and wide that if you made a walk (like the Catholic Saint James Way from the center of Europe to the far west end of Portugal)....that some higher power would help in your life, cure ills, bring good luck, and and lift your outcome in life.
It's believed that a large assortment of people in Europe would find their way to Stonehenge.....bringing sick relatives with them, and believed that the mystic charm of the site would do something.
Why was Stonehenge II (the new site) buried? No one is sure if it was buried intentionally (three feet of dirt is a lot). There's no flood area there, and there's no possibility of landslides to disrupt site. There's no possibility of a volcano being involved (as in Crete's case). So you are left with the idea that some guys put a lot of effort into burying the site.
I would take a humble guess that some event occurred....of a pretty harsh and negative nature. Enough people were standing there and believed that the Stonehenge II site was 'cursed', and they decided that it was best to bury it and never walk those grounds again. A disease? A plague? Who knows? The fact that thousands made the journey from Europe to Stonehenge I....meant hundreds probably had a disease and passed it along via the trail to Stonehenge. It was only a period of time before a large segment of visitors would arrive and be seriously ill while visiting the original site.
So, I'd suggest to the research guys.....broaden the search pattern slightly and look for a burial ground within a couple of miles of the second and newer site. Once you find a large assortment of burials....look for clues.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
The Hillary Oath?
This oath?
Well....it's an odd deal. You just say that you are committed to Hillary....offer up some help like a backyard bar-b-q or coffee meeting with other concerned Hillary folks, and then hand this into the team that runs her campaign.
Might someone lie on the loyalty oath? Well......yeah. That's one of the dozen-odd problems with such oaths.
You can always dump your loyalty.....in fact, from day to day or hour to hour.
A comical political theme? Well, if you get desperate enough....you might turn to the idea of a oath.
Monday, 7 September 2015
Wise Words from a Dentist
Some journalist did an interview with the Cecil-the-Lion killer-dentist. At the end of the conversation....the dentist kinda admitted that if he'd known the lion had a name and was noteworthy.....he never would have killed the lion.
Being from Alabama, I took a moment to ponder upon his wise words.
Generally, you learn a thousand and one things as you grow up on a farm. Around lesson number 644....there's this important bit of wisdom....never name any animal on the farm that you might have to sell or butcher one day.
Things get painfully difficult when you've named some goat "Marvin" and you realize he's up next as the 'stew-goat'.
So, it occurs to me....the way ahead in Africa or anyplace for that matter.....to prevent animals getting shot or killed....is to name them. If you got sixteen-thousand lions in Africa.....they each need a name. If you have forty-five-thousand elephants....they each need a name.
Some ought to get royal-sounding names....like Prince Albert or King Micky. Some could get fictional names like Atticus Finch, T.S. Garp, or James Bond. Some could be named after sports figures like Babe Ruth or Micky Mantle.
You would ID tag each animal and let folks know the status of Doctor Zhivago (the Rhino).
Course, as quickly as you create a fad like this.....some anti-name-the-animals crowd would start up, and prefer that we only use numbers.
Yeah, if you pay attention....occasionally, you will get a bit of wisdom....it's just that you have to think about how to use that wisdom and not be real stupid.
Being from Alabama, I took a moment to ponder upon his wise words.
Generally, you learn a thousand and one things as you grow up on a farm. Around lesson number 644....there's this important bit of wisdom....never name any animal on the farm that you might have to sell or butcher one day.
Things get painfully difficult when you've named some goat "Marvin" and you realize he's up next as the 'stew-goat'.
So, it occurs to me....the way ahead in Africa or anyplace for that matter.....to prevent animals getting shot or killed....is to name them. If you got sixteen-thousand lions in Africa.....they each need a name. If you have forty-five-thousand elephants....they each need a name.
Some ought to get royal-sounding names....like Prince Albert or King Micky. Some could get fictional names like Atticus Finch, T.S. Garp, or James Bond. Some could be named after sports figures like Babe Ruth or Micky Mantle.
You would ID tag each animal and let folks know the status of Doctor Zhivago (the Rhino).
Course, as quickly as you create a fad like this.....some anti-name-the-animals crowd would start up, and prefer that we only use numbers.
Yeah, if you pay attention....occasionally, you will get a bit of wisdom....it's just that you have to think about how to use that wisdom and not be real stupid.
Sunday, 6 September 2015
The Two-Percent Alabama Folks
I noticed the Dothan Eagle.....yeah, I even read their newspaper.....had an interesting article up this week. Journalists in Bama are always looking for a religious angle to something....for the weekend edition and it hints of some religious theme which folks in Bama enjoy. So Matt Elofson (normally the crime reporter of the Eagle)....wrote up this analytical piece.
The story relates to Gallup, who did up a poll nationally....state-by-state....on folks who attend church. It's an odd question and they probably just want to show that the traditions of the nation are evolving. The slant on the article was to tell some story about the society around us and their church-going habits.
So, I went back to Gallup and looked up the situation for the state of Alabama.....46 percent of residents say they attend church weekly. Around 25 percent of folks said they go near weekly or at least once a month. In the category of seldom or never....27 percent of folks held up their hand.
Now, at this point....you'd add up the numbers and say we are at 98 percent. And then you look at the choices and ask what's left.
Well.....two-percent of folks said they didn't know.
Now, you can debate this and talk about it for hours and hours.....but why would two-percent of Alabama folks just say.....they don't know?
Well....some folks don't keep calendars up on the wall and track anything much other than the NCAA football season.
Some folks don't track things like this because they've got more important things....like hunting season, tornado season, or wet-dry voting episodes.
Some folks would prefer not to answer a loaded question like this...in fear that some Baptist minister will jump out of the bushes and launch into a sixty-minute discussion over Moses and his woes in life.
Some folks will say that they drink too much and they might have been there at church last week but they were drinking a bit and just don't remember much of anything.
Some folks will say that they are taking a fair amount of pain-killer and weed, and just don't remember things clearly.
Some folks will question the guy asking the question, and if they work for the federal government....then simply provide this as a 'non-answer'.
My brother would probably respond that he would have been to church....but that dang fence got busted again by his playful cattle, or the barn roof required mending, or that Sunday morning was the only dry spell to cut hay, or that some neighbor stopped by on Sunday morning to ask thirty-six questions on the method of operation for a 1968 Ford Model 14-71 hay-bailer. Oddly, these events occur not only fifty-two Sundays out of the year.....but 365 days out of the year.
Oddly, the two-percent crowd aren't that worried about weekly church attendance, or the condition of pews at the local church, or if there's a new interpretation of Revelations, or if the new minister hired up at the church is an authentic Republican or a fake Republican.
The two-percent crowd doesn't want to get anyone upset or get anyone frustrated. So when you see the question pop up and some local guy wants to discuss the numbers because he's worried about folks.....well, just reassure him.....the two-percent crowd are holding together the rest of the state....under sometimes dire circumstances.
The story relates to Gallup, who did up a poll nationally....state-by-state....on folks who attend church. It's an odd question and they probably just want to show that the traditions of the nation are evolving. The slant on the article was to tell some story about the society around us and their church-going habits.
So, I went back to Gallup and looked up the situation for the state of Alabama.....46 percent of residents say they attend church weekly. Around 25 percent of folks said they go near weekly or at least once a month. In the category of seldom or never....27 percent of folks held up their hand.
Now, at this point....you'd add up the numbers and say we are at 98 percent. And then you look at the choices and ask what's left.
Well.....two-percent of folks said they didn't know.
Now, you can debate this and talk about it for hours and hours.....but why would two-percent of Alabama folks just say.....they don't know?
Well....some folks don't keep calendars up on the wall and track anything much other than the NCAA football season.
Some folks don't track things like this because they've got more important things....like hunting season, tornado season, or wet-dry voting episodes.
Some folks would prefer not to answer a loaded question like this...in fear that some Baptist minister will jump out of the bushes and launch into a sixty-minute discussion over Moses and his woes in life.
Some folks will say that they drink too much and they might have been there at church last week but they were drinking a bit and just don't remember much of anything.
Some folks will say that they are taking a fair amount of pain-killer and weed, and just don't remember things clearly.
Some folks will question the guy asking the question, and if they work for the federal government....then simply provide this as a 'non-answer'.
My brother would probably respond that he would have been to church....but that dang fence got busted again by his playful cattle, or the barn roof required mending, or that Sunday morning was the only dry spell to cut hay, or that some neighbor stopped by on Sunday morning to ask thirty-six questions on the method of operation for a 1968 Ford Model 14-71 hay-bailer. Oddly, these events occur not only fifty-two Sundays out of the year.....but 365 days out of the year.
Oddly, the two-percent crowd aren't that worried about weekly church attendance, or the condition of pews at the local church, or if there's a new interpretation of Revelations, or if the new minister hired up at the church is an authentic Republican or a fake Republican.
The two-percent crowd doesn't want to get anyone upset or get anyone frustrated. So when you see the question pop up and some local guy wants to discuss the numbers because he's worried about folks.....well, just reassure him.....the two-percent crowd are holding together the rest of the state....under sometimes dire circumstances.
Friday, 4 September 2015
The Carbon-Dating Question
Some guy was digging around a library collection in England, and came to a page or two which weren't part of the original book. Inserted pages.
The book in Question....the Koran.
After a while, the people with the collection had this curious nature and had a carbon-dating done on the inserted pages.
It's an odd thing.....the inserted pages were from the period of 568 AD to 632 AD.
Basically, this opened up a can of worms with the Islamic community.
You see....Muhammad didn't even get born until 570 AD. He was in early thirties when he finally got around to organizing his church group, and the document in question....didn't really come together until a decade later.
Some people now have this odd suggestion about how the inserted pages and carbon-dating fit together. The idea is that the Koran existed prior to Muhammad and prior to the formation of Islam. If true (you have to emphasize IF in this case), then Islam is a copy of another religion, which puts the whole thing into a massive discussion stage.
Few non-believers have an understanding of Islam in the historical sense or Muhammad's youth.
Muhammad hung out in his youth with his uncle, who was a regional trader. One of the great things about the trading situation.....was that you got to travel and meet different people.....along with different religions.
In Saudi Arabia at the time.....there were roughly three-hundred-plus religions. People were creating religions left and right. Muhammad took to reviewing various religions and had a curious nature with them. After the Uncle died and stability kinda fell apart.....Muhammad's effort to create Islam went into overdrive.
The odds of a religion existing at the time....before Islam.....and using the Koran? There's not much proof.....but a lot of things have been purged over the years and you can't be sure of anything. I'm guessing that the Islamic crowd is a bit frustrated that this came out, and there's going to be some effort to downgrade the carbon-dating story. But it puts some people into a different prospective. If you could dig up a dozen-odd Koran items.....all dating prior 570 AD....it'd set the stage for a confrontation. Questions would get asked and the legit nature of Muhammad would be called into question.
The book in Question....the Koran.
After a while, the people with the collection had this curious nature and had a carbon-dating done on the inserted pages.
It's an odd thing.....the inserted pages were from the period of 568 AD to 632 AD.
Basically, this opened up a can of worms with the Islamic community.
You see....Muhammad didn't even get born until 570 AD. He was in early thirties when he finally got around to organizing his church group, and the document in question....didn't really come together until a decade later.
Some people now have this odd suggestion about how the inserted pages and carbon-dating fit together. The idea is that the Koran existed prior to Muhammad and prior to the formation of Islam. If true (you have to emphasize IF in this case), then Islam is a copy of another religion, which puts the whole thing into a massive discussion stage.
Few non-believers have an understanding of Islam in the historical sense or Muhammad's youth.
Muhammad hung out in his youth with his uncle, who was a regional trader. One of the great things about the trading situation.....was that you got to travel and meet different people.....along with different religions.
In Saudi Arabia at the time.....there were roughly three-hundred-plus religions. People were creating religions left and right. Muhammad took to reviewing various religions and had a curious nature with them. After the Uncle died and stability kinda fell apart.....Muhammad's effort to create Islam went into overdrive.
The odds of a religion existing at the time....before Islam.....and using the Koran? There's not much proof.....but a lot of things have been purged over the years and you can't be sure of anything. I'm guessing that the Islamic crowd is a bit frustrated that this came out, and there's going to be some effort to downgrade the carbon-dating story. But it puts some people into a different prospective. If you could dig up a dozen-odd Koran items.....all dating prior 570 AD....it'd set the stage for a confrontation. Questions would get asked and the legit nature of Muhammad would be called into question.
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
When Your Convictions are a Problem
I sat and watched for the last couple of days this epic battle between some county clerk in Kentucky and the court system. The county clerk says she's got religious empowerment, and she just can't issue marriage licenses to gay couples. The court system, via a US federal judge, has issued out the ruling that there's no choice in the matter, and demands she come to court.
Personally, I wouldn't normally care much for the story or the events unfolding....but there's this odd factor which bothers me.
You see...when you go and do some public service job...whether elected or hired....your religious background, tendencies, and interpretation of some Biblical factor....makes your service to the public a question mark.
I could walk in and present myself as a heavy drinker or a guy who has relations with dozens of women monthly, and you as the public servant of whatever function you serve.....might decide that your holy-attitude needs to invoke rule X, Y or Z....thus denying me service. You see, it's not just a gay thing or such.....you could invoke any interpretation and just say these verses are enough to deny service.
If there were an alternate deal.....like I wanted a barber to cut my hair but he decides that my big hooter mermaid tattoo situation offends him, well, it's not all bad because I can find another barber in ten minutes.
If I walked into a Burger King and they wanted to deny me a sausage and biscuit because I wore flip-flops, well, I could go down the street and find a McDonalds operation who doesn't care about my flip-flop situation and serve up a sausage and biscuit.
In the case of the county clerk....where license are issued via one particular person for the whole county, there's a problem for me to go and find another clerk in the same county.
In this case, this gal's religious convictions are such....that she might want to find another line of work.
In our modern world, there are hundreds....maybe even thousands....of moral decisions made and it reflects upon character. For a heavily defined religious person....there's probably a minimum of two-hundred 'flaws' where you might be on the no-go or unacceptable list. In the world of capitalism and commerce, it doesn't matter much....there's always an alternate place for service. But when there's NO alternate deal.....your public service situation is called into question. This gal has a profession where she can't perform at the level required. My humble guess is that the federal judge will offer one chance to grasp the big-picture, and she won't understand that.....he'll ever remove her from position, or put her into some home-arrest deal until she cooperates.
Personally, I wouldn't normally care much for the story or the events unfolding....but there's this odd factor which bothers me.
You see...when you go and do some public service job...whether elected or hired....your religious background, tendencies, and interpretation of some Biblical factor....makes your service to the public a question mark.
I could walk in and present myself as a heavy drinker or a guy who has relations with dozens of women monthly, and you as the public servant of whatever function you serve.....might decide that your holy-attitude needs to invoke rule X, Y or Z....thus denying me service. You see, it's not just a gay thing or such.....you could invoke any interpretation and just say these verses are enough to deny service.
If there were an alternate deal.....like I wanted a barber to cut my hair but he decides that my big hooter mermaid tattoo situation offends him, well, it's not all bad because I can find another barber in ten minutes.
If I walked into a Burger King and they wanted to deny me a sausage and biscuit because I wore flip-flops, well, I could go down the street and find a McDonalds operation who doesn't care about my flip-flop situation and serve up a sausage and biscuit.
In the case of the county clerk....where license are issued via one particular person for the whole county, there's a problem for me to go and find another clerk in the same county.
In this case, this gal's religious convictions are such....that she might want to find another line of work.
In our modern world, there are hundreds....maybe even thousands....of moral decisions made and it reflects upon character. For a heavily defined religious person....there's probably a minimum of two-hundred 'flaws' where you might be on the no-go or unacceptable list. In the world of capitalism and commerce, it doesn't matter much....there's always an alternate place for service. But when there's NO alternate deal.....your public service situation is called into question. This gal has a profession where she can't perform at the level required. My humble guess is that the federal judge will offer one chance to grasp the big-picture, and she won't understand that.....he'll ever remove her from position, or put her into some home-arrest deal until she cooperates.
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