Comments - Part VIII

• There seems to be an agreement between the USA left and the right on Egypt.  Both sides agree there is nothing we can do.  Mubarek yes?  No!  Muslim Brotherhood yes?  No!  Continued military aid yes?  No!  My gosh, we have really tunneled in on this one. What kind of agreement is this?  The only one working! That's what.

• National commentator Bill O'Reilly's latest commentary begins with "What is really dividing America?"  This simple statement accepts the division while begging an answer.  On the one had, it is a confession there is a division. No longer is there a fiction of division.   On the other hand, it confesses the division is a matter of concern, discussion, and hopes for resolution. It begs for a solution. There is none.
  
  You can talk about a division.  We all do this.  But when you cite it as a given, this is yet another proposition.  When you say there is no solution to a division, you are inviting an irresolute situation. This can be divisive; this can be derisive; this can be deadly.  

·        On university professors.  We like to say they are "smart enough to get in the business, but too dumb to get out."  :)

·        Background.  The US has closed multiple embassies throughout the middle east.  The reasons we are given is that internet and phone chatter has risen to unprecedented levels.  Even the phone numbers of significant Al Qaeda players have been exposed as justification.   An attack is imminent, we are told.

As far as I'm concerned all this al Qaeda chatter could be merely a test to determine our reaction.  It is easy to generate online chatter.  They now know and will exploit as needed.  It could also be a diversion for the real target.  Such tactics have been used at least since WWII by the Nazis.

I am astounded at the naivety of our government. Yet, what could the President do?  He is caught in the web of his own spin.

·        We have the unfortunate situation where most trial juries assume almost everything they hear is a lie.  In consequence, defense and prosecution attorneys, alike, cite "trust" as the prime factor in their considerations.  
·         It is one thing to want this right or that, this freedom or that, but have you considered what each of these may cost?  For example, you cannot have total security of life without the serious price of freedom.   Consider the following list.  Each right is admirable while each has a cost.  Many of these we see daily and are now accepted.  Many have a counter-price tag.  Rules.  You may not counter all or part of these by saying they would happen without cost if only people would work together.  They will not.  We have lots of history to prove this - I hope you will agree.

o   Full security rights --- diminished freedom

o   Full education rights --- increased taxation, diminished quality

o   Full healthcare rights --- increased taxation, queuing, regulations

o   Full cultural expression rights --- alienation

o   Full equality rights --- decreased opportunity

o   Full marriage rights --- increased alienation

o   Full healthy environment rights --- increased taxation, regulations

o   Full expression  --- diminished respect, alienation

o   Full right to bear arms --- more violent/domestic crime

o   Full and complete abortion rights --- decreased ethics/morality

·         There can be no utopia (a fair and just world for all), for if there were, someone would use the utopian constructs to marginalize it. Just as, if there is no speed limit, too many would apply it at the expense of all.  For a Utopian world to exist, we would need to change the foundational nature of its inhabitants from what we (homo sapien sapiens) are.  Philosopher-kings (as per Plato) ruling such a world would be completely corruptible, even though with benign intent. It is easy to construct an impossible world.  Religions have been doing this for millennia.

·         You cannot set out to learn something you do not know is there to learn.

·         The fall back of the uneducated, uninterested, and unmotivated student is:  "I will learn it when I need to know it."  However, if the student doesn't know it is there to learn, learning it is moot.

·         Student to professor.  "I don't know fractions, or algebra, or calculus, but I want to take your grad course on celestial mechanics. It sounds cool. I'm a Scorpio; always want to understand astrology better.  Is this OK?  Professor to student.  "Sure.  Please sit in."   Professors need to have a little fun, too. :)

·         When you clean your house, you remove the dust, dirt, and clutter that builds up.  You mind knows nothing of this cleaning.  There the dust, dirt and clutter continue to accumulate. 

·          Sometimes I have a great idea but then forget it before writing it down.   I know it will come back in due time but never know when - but only if the idea is good.   Bad ideas drift through our minds constantly, but thankfully our mind graciously forgets them for us.  

·         Beware of anyone wishing to teach you without asking you about your critical thinking skills.  Such people usual disguise profoundly flawed tenets.  When the teaching begins with "Everyone knows that...,"  or "It is a fact that...," or "I am only the messenger, yet ... ," or "Logic tells us that ... ," be on full alert. 

·         In reading many biographies of successful military and political leaders, it is clear that military leaders are far more cognizant of the historical aspects of military tactics and strategies than political leaders are of the basic theories and practices of politics.  This historical view begins even when the military leader was a student.  Political leaders read the biographies from a (comparative) historical rather than an educational viewpoint.  They prefer to promote their agendas without regard for historical precedent.  I seriously doubt any world leader has read more than a book or two on actual leadership.

·         We see so many school district programs advocating some new plan, hoping for desirable learning results, the brass ring for education.  A program based in Louisiana allows teachers tell stories based on picture books that do not include printed words. This is commendable.  This is wonderful.  However, what is needed is a student coming to class knowing that learning is their key to future success, and wanting to learn more of their world.   This is yet another well designed program that attempts to entrance, seduce, and induce students to want to learn. The desire and importance for learning must begin long before - at home.