Perception...Very Interesting

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. A man with a violin plays six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people passed through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule. 4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.   6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. 10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly. 45 minutes: The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32. 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100. This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... what else are we missing? (This story is true, and verified at snopes)

1000 words.

A Parable

I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?" 

She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people." Her parents beamed. 

"Wow....what a worthy goal." I told her, "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?" 

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

You can keep the swine flu.

So, This doesn't really have to do with Politics, but more with World News. Regarding the swine Flu: As of today, right now, this very second, the Swine Flu has been the cause of only one confirmed death in Texas, One! The following table is from the CDC website (source)

I took a screenshot because I am talking about right now, the 119th day of 2009.  Ok, so this flu has been attributed to one death. Now let's focus on the regular Influenza virus.  According to the CDC, the Influenza virus is the cause of about 36000 deaths a year. (source) Again with the screenshot, click to enlarge:

So, that's about 98 people per day that die of regular influenza.  So lets crunch the numbers.

Let's assume that there are about 304,000,000 people in the United States, (google: US Population). Lets use the numbers from the Regular Flu.  5% of the US gets flu (low number).  5% of the population is 15,200,000.  Divide the number of deaths by the number of infections and you get 0.2% (36000 deaths / 15200000 cases) of the people who get Influenza die.  Swine flu is higher, at just over 1% (1 death / 91 cases).  So, the odds that you'll die from the swine flu are 5 times greater, it's still only about 1% chance of dying.  

Now for a little perspective: The SARS outbreak of 2003 had 8096 recorded cases with 774 deaths... the odds of dying with SARS back in the day was an amazing 9.6% (source).

My take on this  If you get the flu (swine or regular) go see a doctor and get some chicken soup because you'll be sick for a few days.  It's not as bad as SARS was yet.

(for you punks that say "what about 20% of the us" here are those numbers.  20% of 304 M = 60.8M people.  Divide out the deaths and you get 0.05% [36000 / 60.2M], so the percentage is less, but the difference between 0.2% and 0.05% is nominal, let the flame war ensue!)

Budget Pennies

Need we say more?

A thought on Reagan and the United States

I was sitting here trying to get my GPS to start working on my blackberry and ran across an article online about how any why the Global Positioning System is a federally funded program but is still free and accessible to everyone in the United States.

Turns out when I was very young, A Russian strike force shot down a US commercial jetliner, killing everyone on board.  This happened in the middle of the very tense Cold War.  The GPS network was up at the time, albiet young, and had the aircraft been fitted with a GPS receiver, they wouldn't have strayed into a Soviet forbidden fly zone.  Spurred by this, America could have launched a massive strike against the Soviets and started WWIII, but the UN mitigated discussions.  Russia apologized for the horrible loss of life, but defended their actions, claiming that they just followed protocol.  Reagan apparently accepted the apology and then issued an Executive Order allowing all citizens of the United States access to the GPS system free of charge.  America is still the only nation in the world that has a position network of it's kind.  No other nation can compete.

This reminded me of another one of Reagan's shining moments, though he had so many of the.  On April 14, 1986, the United States launched a series of Strike Attacks against terrorist training facilities, headquarters and military assets located in Lybia.  In an address to the American People the day of the attacks, Reagan explained what had happened and why.  In closing he said:

"We Americans are slow to anger. We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of force -- and we did. We tried quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions, and demonstrations of military force. None succeeded. Despite our repeated warnings, Qadhafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror. He counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong. I warned that there should be no place on Earth where terrorists can rest and train and practice their deadly skills. I meant it. I said that we would act with others, if possible, and alone if necessary to ensure that terrorists have no sanctuary anywhere. Tonight, we have." (the full text of the speech can be found here)

I only wish we had a president who was not afraid to get his hands dirty to fight the good fight.  I am not a warmonger, but I do believe that there really is "a time for war and a time for peace."  I miss Ronald Reagan, and I hope everyone has a chance to learn about who he was and why he was so loved by the Americans.  Our nation was never as unified as it was under Reagan's tenure. So, here's hoping that one day in the future, we will have someone in charge of this country who listens to the people, who does what's right and not necessarily what's popular.  May the president of the United States uphold this nation's moral and ethical way of life and not run rampant with his own agenda in total disregard for the safety and security of this wonderful nation. God Bless America!

Denny's...

Denny's is now offering a new breakfast "slam" in special honor of the California octuplet's mother.

You get 8 eggs, no sausage and the person next to you gets the bill.

[more information after the jump] 

Socialism in America

Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968), and some of us are old enough to remember him running for President, was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.

Norman Thomas said this in a 1944 speech:

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." He went on to say: "I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform."

Inauguation Day 2009

I normally do not blog political stuff on my normal blog, and likewise do not blog personal stuff on my political blog. Today is a little different as I ponder the last 8 years with President Bush, and contemplate the next four (at least) with President Obama. Now, if you are reading this and have read any of my other posts elsewhere, you already know that I am a textbook conservative republican. That being said, I still have an open mind and hope you will continue reading without closing your own.

First, I would like to say "Thank You!" to President George W. Bush. You have done a remarkable job in the presidency. You showed the true marks of a leader as you took a crippled country into your arms and helped us back to our feet after the attacks of 9/11/01. You unified a nation under one cause as you petitioned Congress to deal a hefty blow of retaliation to those who attacked us. The declaration of war was ratified by Congress, and we secured for ourselves the freedoms we so enjoy for yet another time. Unlike those in the country that place a blame upon you for your decisions, I commend you for your bravery to look those who oppress us in the eyes and stand firm in the ideals of Freedom which we hold so dear. I thank you for the leadership and the tough decisions that you have had to make. I will not criticize you for making mistakes as we are all human and are prone to error. Even though those in the media and, most importantly, in the Democratic party were busy pointing fingers at you for the mistakes which all humans are faulty of, I applaud you for continuing to do your job the best you could with the information provided to you. I commend you for your bravery, yet again, as you stood before the world as a man and accepted their putrid words as they openly displayed their disgust with no thought that behind the office is a man, who like any of us, is guilty of imperfection. I applaud your character, I salute you and I stand behind you as any true American should! Your work is finished, welcome back to the life of a private citizen!

I would like to direct my words now to President Obama. President, I wish you good luck in your new job. The office of the President of the United States of America is held by the both the most loved and the most hated man in the world, for they are one and the same. I do not hate you. I do not know you and am unqualified to pass that judgement at this time. I do not love you either, for I do not know your history or background, nor do I have any idea what you are capable of. You are now in the position where people will look up to you with the utmost respect, waiting on bended knee to do your bidding. Likewise, the position now where people will hate you merely because you are of the Democratic party or because of your office. I am merely one voice in the sea of citizens, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I have to admit that I do not agree with some of your policies.

For example, it makes me sad that you are willing to pass laws that allow doctors to kill precious viable children. My daughter was born severely premature yet viable at 25 weeks gestation. She is now 4 years old and healthy, and she will one day grow up to be a voting citizen. Your views on late term abortion as well as your controversial stance on partial-birth abortion crosses the line to infanticide and, is therefore no different than other dictators and tyrants who believed on social cleansing. Your stance promotes fornication as it gives those who get pregnant out of wedlock a means of escape if they themselves are not ready for the responsibility of being a parent. There are many voters out there who believe that a strong stance against abortion, and passing laws that prohibit doctors from breaking their Hippocratic oath ("I will do no harm") would help reduce the number people engaging in fornication and pregnancies out of wedlock. But who am I to suggest how anyone should lead a country. I am only one voice.

Other policies and views that you have I do agree with, such as your views on energy. I recognize the need to develop alternate, renewable fuels as well as devise ways to be self sufficient with respect to energy. Our enemies and allies both have a strong hold over us as our way of life is dependent upon the raw materials we get from them. I am interested to see how you handle this. Also, I agree that health care needs a reform, but socialized health care will do no one any good, just look at the Canadians and their health care. If there were a happy medium between what Canada has and what we have, then I say we should shoot for that, but again, I am not qualified to make that decision.

In closing, Mr. President, I do not envy you with the huge burden with which you have asked to be given. I am one citizen who will be watching your decisions and the way you choose to lead this nation. And, as an American Citizen, and we have collectively elected you as our leader, it is my duty and responsibility to respect you and support you to the best of my abilities. So, As a republican, I vow now to give you at least the same level of respect and courtesy that the Democratic party showed to Mr. Bush.