Some Random Nobody

Austerity Everywhere

Applying austerity everywhere to fix the economy and the debt problem of the countries is like running an air-conditioner without some place (such as outside) to dump the hot air.  It never works.  The hot air expelled from an air-conditioner contains more heat than the cold air lost.

One of These Things

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things just doesn't belong.
Can you tell me which thing is not like the others,
Before I finish my song?

-- Sesame Street

In the 9/11 attacks, UA175 hit the WTC South Tower, AA11 hit the North Tower, and AA77 hit the Pentagon.

In contrast with the twin towers, the Pentagon looks like a pancake from the air.  It's no taller than the tail section of AA77.  AA77 took a very roundabout way of targetting the Pentagon: skimming the ground at three times landing speed, without inadvertently touching the ground, then hitting the Pentagon precisely where it would do the least damage -- a spot still under construction, and the wing built to best withstand such an attack.

The twin tower destruction was the spectacular attack, whereas the hit on the Pentagon was the self-injury designed to make the criminal look like a victim.

You, I, and Bill Gates

It doesn't matter who you are.  It doesn't matter what kind of financial situation you are in.  You, I, and Bill Gates are on average decabillionaires.

What is this supposed to mean?

Growth in the USA exhibits the same kind of meaningless averaging.  Since the growth, and the benefits of productivity increase all go to the top 20%, growth is meaningless for the rest of the population.  Furthermore, productivity increase means that fewer workers are needed to produce the same work.

This leads to increased unemployment -- a structural increase, but unrelated to mere retraining and education.  "Full employment" involves increased unemployment because of this increase in productivity.

Unless we distribute the benefits of productivity back to the producers -- the workers -- growth and productivity increase are meaningless to negative for the vast majority of them.

JREF Article on Human Information Processing

Kyle Hill has written an interesting article on JREF, about human information processing.  It's a bit of a difficult read, but overall quite plausible.  Hill argues that most of us most of the time use a quick, heuristic mode of judging information, as opposed to systematic thinking.  Heuristics may be valid, but are often invalid.

The last paragraph, about increasing scientific literacy and critical thinking, had the following question, motivated no doubt by an heuristic of his own: "Why are 9/11 Truthers so closed off from other sources of information?" This question, of course, is patently false and is based on his own biases regarding the 9/11 Truth movement.

The title of the article is An Introduction to Human Information Processing (Part 1)

Great Response from Representative Pete Olson

Through his web site, I sent Representative Olson my concerns about the inconsistent wheels-off times for the United Airlines 9/11 flights.  (8:23 vs. 8:14 for UA175, 8:28 vs. 8:42 for UA93.)  I received a reply, which I excerpt here:

 I understand your concerns regarding the discrepancies between the departure times for UA175 and UA93 on September 11, 2011. In order to fully know what actually happened that day, we must be sure that we have accurate information. I have directed my staff to contact the Bureau of Transportation Statistics in order to obtain some more information about these departure times and the discrepancies with the 9/11 Commission report. I will be sure to let you know the results of this inquiry.

Thank you very much, Pete Olson.

Krugman's Good News on Reporting

Paul Krugman reports good news about the news media.  They appear to be making the falsehood of at least one of Mitt Romney's claims the centerpiece of their reporting.  Pardon me if I take a more cynical view of the issue.  The media would not mind if President Obama were reelected, and might even prefer Obama over Romney.

Compare this with the situation in 2000.  Vice President Gore was competing against Texas Governor Bush.  The media wanted Bush and loathed Gore, perhaps because Gore was more of a nerd with a science bent, and in any case was out of the loop of Very Serious People.  The media rampantly lied about Gore, and were very nice to Bush about his falsehoods.  Additionally, the media promoted the third-party candidacy of Ralph Nader.  (Embarrassing disclaimer: I voted for Nader in 2000.  Fortunately, the vote did no harm here in Texas.)

Despite the double-barrelled media attack on Gore, Gore was able to bring the election to a virtual tie, and if not for the infamous Bush v. Gore decision, might have w0n the election.  Just imagine how the 2000s would have gone had Gore been President instead of Bush.

A Cult of Mutually Reinforced Incompetence

I don't know how widespread the problem is.  It may be limited to the 9/11 forums of JREF.  But there appears to be zero concern that United Airlines reported (to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics) different wheels-off times for UA175 and UA93, from the official times.  Not a single person (other than myself, after my post) sees the accounting red flag, and recognizes that this has to be investigated.

http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=8101620&postcount=190

http://johnm2.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/911-takeoff-times-2nd-attempt-at-petition.html

Post to JREF Forum, for Petition Signatures

During the eighties and nineties, I was very much a fan of James Randi.  James Randi and the skeptics movement were honest and competent investigators of paranormal claims, going after fraud and incompetence.  Unfortunately things began to change, I think in the mid-nineties.

I recall two things in particular: a logic-free rant appearing in "The Skeptical Inquirer" about OJ Simpson's acquital for murder, and their general dismissal the "Gulf War Syndrome", the term collectively applied to various symptoms many veterans of the first Gulf War experienced.

These days, they may still be competent regarding the paranormal investigation, but they are definitely incompetent at understanding the most basic concepts involving 9/11.  James Randi called me a nutcase when I called on him to denounce numerous examples of flim-flim (the title of one of his eighties books) in the official 9/11 story.  (No link; it was private communication.)

This thread indicates the extreme difficulty of getting them to comprehend the obvious: Popular Mechanics was nuts when it told us that Air Traffic Control had to search the entire country for a plane whose transponder was turned off.  (If the plane is in New York at the time, it won't have gone very far in the next five minutes.)  Popular Mechanics's claim was a phony explanation for the paralysis of NORAD during 9/11.

Nevertheless, in a vain hope against hope, I posted (at the end of a thread from two years ago about this topic) a call for signatures in the petition to investigate the inconsistant take-off times.

CNN Interview with Corporal Cut Short

Via Ray McGovern, CNN Silences War-Skeptical Soldier, this clip shows the feed being cut off in the middle of the interview of a soldier who turned out to be antiwar.  It's an important indicator of the controlled media's desire for war and push for attack on Iran.

 

What is a Krok?

In an earlier post, I ended the story with the query, what is a krok?

There are numerous possibilities.  The krok may be a coupon, note, or bill -- or possibly a unit used in coupons, notes, or bills.  For example, I might print up a series of one-krok notes, five-krok notes, twenty-krok notes, 100-krok notes, million-krok notes, billion-krok notes, trillion-krok notes, or even quadrillion-krok notes.

So what use would that be?  What would anyone want with a hundred kroks, or even a quadrillion kroks?  By itself, nothing.  But now, suppose I were the owner of a large estate demanding (and enforcing) rent, or a government demanding taxes, or simply a powerful criminal demanding tribute.  I may demand payment in kroks. Since the payment is enforced, the payers need to get their hands on kroks somehow or other.  This gives the kroks a certain value to them.  For me, they're just coupons.  I can print up as many as I choose.  But others need them, so they might be willing to provide goods or services or money to me in exchange for kroks.

Compare with with Warren Mosler's account of a UMKC currency of community service.

There are other possibilities.  For example, a krok may be a claim on an ounce of gold, or a pound of silver.  This, of course, just transfers the question, "why the heck would you involve yourself with such a thing?" from kroks to the gold or silver.  Except that people already view gold and silver as valuables.

I may invent an efficient way to produce liquid hydrogen for fuel, perhaps using nuclear fusion.  Then a krok may be a kilogram of liquid hydrogen, or a claim on a kilogram of liquid hydrogen.  Someone goes up to a hydrogen service station, presents five kroks, and fills his fuel take with five kilos of liquid hydrogen.

I may generate electricity.  A krok then may be a claim on a kilowatt-hour of electrical energy.

One might create a krok currency identical to the Bitcoin.  I have my doubts about bitcoins being accepted as a currency, at least until some large company or government demands payment in bitcoins.