Here are three possible solutions:
1. Have to be naked to fly.
2. No Muslims allowed to fly.
3. On long international flghhts passengers are put into a sleep state via gas, pills or injections and revived just before landing. I've long thought this would be better than being awake on a plane for hours and hours.
And how come the TSA now says that passengers now have to stay in thier seats, hands showing for an hour before landing? What if the latest "wacko" had tried to blow up the plane on the 5th hour of flight? Would TSA require us to stay in our seats for the 5th hour?
G'pa the deep thinking grump
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
"emotion masquerading (sp?) as an idea"
Julia Child, in her book, "My LIfe in France", says about some of her political ideas, that they were merely "emotion masquerading as ideas", not well thought out, not rational, and not articulate.
Good point, I think. Much of the objection to the health plan and to the US economic stimulus package expressed in the media and by friends is just that, emotion without thought.
G'pere Le Grump
Good point, I think. Much of the objection to the health plan and to the US economic stimulus package expressed in the media and by friends is just that, emotion without thought.
G'pere Le Grump
Friday, September 18, 2009
Orrin Hatch
A couple of weeks ago Senator Orrin Hatch said that the Obama health plan would lead to socialism.
Tell us how that will happen, Senator, step bgy step Betcha can't. "Socialism" and "communism"- God help us! You know that just by saying the "s" word people will take you seriously. This "S" word objection to the "O" health plan seems to set the unthinking masses off in a red-faced vein busting panic.
Think! We already have Medicare and Medicaid and the VA which are "socialistic". And they work pretty well. Surely we are doomed already??
Furthermore, our highways, libraries, military, Judicial systems are "socialistic". We all pay into them and share the fuits.
Here is a rational objection to the Obama health plan: He says it won't cost most of us anything becasue he will cut waste in the Medicare/Medicaid and use the $ to pay for covering 30-45 million new patients. Doubtful. There may well be that much waste in the system, but finding it, stopping it and collecting the money will be difficult and unlikely.
Tell us how that will happen, Senator, step bgy step Betcha can't. "Socialism" and "communism"- God help us! You know that just by saying the "s" word people will take you seriously. This "S" word objection to the "O" health plan seems to set the unthinking masses off in a red-faced vein busting panic.
Think! We already have Medicare and Medicaid and the VA which are "socialistic". And they work pretty well. Surely we are doomed already??
Furthermore, our highways, libraries, military, Judicial systems are "socialistic". We all pay into them and share the fuits.
Here is a rational objection to the Obama health plan: He says it won't cost most of us anything becasue he will cut waste in the Medicare/Medicaid and use the $ to pay for covering 30-45 million new patients. Doubtful. There may well be that much waste in the system, but finding it, stopping it and collecting the money will be difficult and unlikely.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Recent Thinking; Marijuana, National Health care & rational political thinking
Among other things I'm thinking about this summer, I've been mulling over the following:
Marijuana: Maybe it would be best if it was made legal. Surveys show that the large majority of people would not turn in thier friends for growing or using it. Why even have such a toothless law that almost eveyone ignores? Current philosophy behind our anti drug laws are "its just plain wrong and should not be tolerated at all". Sometimes when an idea doesn't work, we need to go to a "second best" solution.
Yes, we would pick up more users. But by making it legal to posess and to smoke, governments could collect badly needed taxes. Some of the taxes could go to treatment programs and the rest could be well spent on an unending list of local and state needs. But best of all it would reduce the crime surrounding marijuana now. Some studies claim that marijuana is not a "gateway drug" to heavier drugs?
Health care reform: The majority of people who object to health care reform; "socialized medicine" (there is an emotional laden term) are those who already have health care, have adequate income and some luxuries and are practicing Christians. Look at the political cartoon in the 26 July Oregonian Opinion section. The unemployed, the poor, and others who need it seem to have little voice here. Next time you hear an objection to universal health, care ask the person to imagine he has lost his job and to look on the web for private health care. It is beyond me how people who profess to be Christian can object to sharing some wealth. "Socialism" is the knee jerk response. They don't know what socialism is. They conveniently ignore that we "free market" Americans enjoy all kinds of socialistic programs; unemployment insurance, subsidies to corporations, to farmers, to airlines, highways, schools, libriaries, military just to name a few.
I strongly favaor "universal health care" (a fairly rational description) although I'm not sure the current Obama package is the answer. And I doubt that it will be passed by Congress this year. I suspect the CBO estimate that it will cost about $1.7 billion? over the next few years is "in the ball park". Neverthe less, Obama should keep fighting for health care reform.
Rational thinking about the Obama economic stimulus package and other issues: It appears to have become my purpose in life to promote clear thinking about Federal policy, especially the bailout package. Here is my position; You have a right, even a duty, to rationally disagree with Obama and his people.
You do not have a right to circualte lies, racist cartoons, sophmoric, over simplified posts and angry rants and ridicule which appeal to the lowest among us. Those of you who object to Obama policy in this manner undermine America and promote hate. (See above; I said that you have a right and duty to disagree based on facts and data.)
Few of you who object to the Obama econ stimulus package don't konw anything about economics. If I ask you what your soluiton is, you have no answer. I will explain.
There are two textbook ways to deal with a recession.
The first is for the government to spend money to jump start the economy. Who else is gonna spend money? People don't have so much money in a recession. That is what Bernanke/Obama/Summers are trying to do; to go into debt hoping the economy will recover allowing the debt to be paid off. If it works we will be OK. If it doesn't we are gonna be in trouble.
The second text book solution is to cut taxes and regulations to help business recover. This is called "supply side" economic stimulus. It is what the Republicans have been doing for years. It hasn't worked and it creates big national debt. Cutting taxes mania appropriatily began with Reagan. It was the right thing to do then. But it has created a generatrion of government haters and anti tax activists who have carried it far beyond a logical point.
There are other minor theories about how to deal with a recession. I hope someone, some day, soon comes up with an alternative solution.
Stange how everyone has an economic opinion but doesn't know much about economics. It would be like me telling you how to do your job, about which I know nothing.
Other than trying to help people think rationally (like this post), I am enjoying summer off school. I've worked on my car a little, worked on the house, rode my m'cycle ( it has a flat tire I gotta get fixed), been to France, read a lot, slept too much and ate too much.
In Peace and Rationality
Grand-pere Le grump
Marijuana: Maybe it would be best if it was made legal. Surveys show that the large majority of people would not turn in thier friends for growing or using it. Why even have such a toothless law that almost eveyone ignores? Current philosophy behind our anti drug laws are "its just plain wrong and should not be tolerated at all". Sometimes when an idea doesn't work, we need to go to a "second best" solution.
Yes, we would pick up more users. But by making it legal to posess and to smoke, governments could collect badly needed taxes. Some of the taxes could go to treatment programs and the rest could be well spent on an unending list of local and state needs. But best of all it would reduce the crime surrounding marijuana now. Some studies claim that marijuana is not a "gateway drug" to heavier drugs?
Health care reform: The majority of people who object to health care reform; "socialized medicine" (there is an emotional laden term) are those who already have health care, have adequate income and some luxuries and are practicing Christians. Look at the political cartoon in the 26 July Oregonian Opinion section. The unemployed, the poor, and others who need it seem to have little voice here. Next time you hear an objection to universal health, care ask the person to imagine he has lost his job and to look on the web for private health care. It is beyond me how people who profess to be Christian can object to sharing some wealth. "Socialism" is the knee jerk response. They don't know what socialism is. They conveniently ignore that we "free market" Americans enjoy all kinds of socialistic programs; unemployment insurance, subsidies to corporations, to farmers, to airlines, highways, schools, libriaries, military just to name a few.
I strongly favaor "universal health care" (a fairly rational description) although I'm not sure the current Obama package is the answer. And I doubt that it will be passed by Congress this year. I suspect the CBO estimate that it will cost about $1.7 billion? over the next few years is "in the ball park". Neverthe less, Obama should keep fighting for health care reform.
Rational thinking about the Obama economic stimulus package and other issues: It appears to have become my purpose in life to promote clear thinking about Federal policy, especially the bailout package. Here is my position; You have a right, even a duty, to rationally disagree with Obama and his people.
You do not have a right to circualte lies, racist cartoons, sophmoric, over simplified posts and angry rants and ridicule which appeal to the lowest among us. Those of you who object to Obama policy in this manner undermine America and promote hate. (See above; I said that you have a right and duty to disagree based on facts and data.)
Few of you who object to the Obama econ stimulus package don't konw anything about economics. If I ask you what your soluiton is, you have no answer. I will explain.
There are two textbook ways to deal with a recession.
The first is for the government to spend money to jump start the economy. Who else is gonna spend money? People don't have so much money in a recession. That is what Bernanke/Obama/Summers are trying to do; to go into debt hoping the economy will recover allowing the debt to be paid off. If it works we will be OK. If it doesn't we are gonna be in trouble.
The second text book solution is to cut taxes and regulations to help business recover. This is called "supply side" economic stimulus. It is what the Republicans have been doing for years. It hasn't worked and it creates big national debt. Cutting taxes mania appropriatily began with Reagan. It was the right thing to do then. But it has created a generatrion of government haters and anti tax activists who have carried it far beyond a logical point.
There are other minor theories about how to deal with a recession. I hope someone, some day, soon comes up with an alternative solution.
Stange how everyone has an economic opinion but doesn't know much about economics. It would be like me telling you how to do your job, about which I know nothing.
Other than trying to help people think rationally (like this post), I am enjoying summer off school. I've worked on my car a little, worked on the house, rode my m'cycle ( it has a flat tire I gotta get fixed), been to France, read a lot, slept too much and ate too much.
In Peace and Rationality
Grand-pere Le grump
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