Morning (politic moving orange)

>sync.intercorrelation

I've moved on. I am now pass the election. It doesn't really matter for me because I will win either way.

Don't you understand? Whoever is elected must, by the alchemy of modern politics, become a centrist. I am a centrist moving.

I like to think of it like two siblings at the ice cream counter, or if you are in Europe, at the gelato counter.

One wants vanilla ice cream, the other chocolate. They have to fight it out but not with fists anymore. And at some point, one yields and they both get the same flavor ice cream. You will be happy because you got vanilla, and I will grouse, still wanting chocolate.

We seem to miss the point that we both have ice cream.

Can you imagine fighting with fists? Are the problems we face so dire that I will kill you to get my chocolate gelato?

You are trying to convince me that it is still the old choice, of eating or not eating. Really? Fat kids are throwing away food at lunchtime and then complaining that they don't get enough to eat. Really?

Absurdities of looking at the real statistics. Of course it isn't me, not my kids.

I will be the first to cast the stone. I still waste some food and generate some waste. I measured it. In 3 weeks, I generate about 1kg of plastic/gelb sack waste and 1kg regular waste, and about 0.1kg bio-waste. I don't have kids to worry about. And for that waste-footprint I demand my flavor!

It is ice cream DAMN IT!

I don't care how you argue. Chocolate is evil. Chocolate is communism. Chocolate is really shit. If you want some I can scoop it from my ass and smear it across your face. Is that what you want, chocolate?!

Please. You're making a spectacle of yourself.

It is ice cream.

And next week we will decide again on the flavor. Maybe instead of vanilla we will have strawberry. Doesn't matter. Maybe we will have the whole counter of flavors. Can you imagine! We will be there arguing the whole week instead of eating ice cream! At this point even a third flavor is a nonproductive idea.

We reduce it down to two dots and then choose, yet there is a whole dot matrix full of flavors! Maybe we, the two kids need to learn a bit of matrix math. Let's start with a linear array.

I remember late nights with Pete in the Math building cramming for calculus. I remember how to add one matrix to another. I can multiple them too! There are define rules to do matrix math.

Efficient, high-throughput politics! Is that the third path? A way to shutout the money-voice? Are my web-based politicomatic tools there in the cloud yet? How do we go about comparing two politicomatic arrays? Vector addition? How do we just move and avoid this stasis of staring at dots?

OK. Alles klar.

Afternoon (Friend politiking R&D)

Good afternoon. It is Saturday, so I let you sleep till afternoon.
This morning, I wrote to a friend and gave my take on US politics.
(by the way, I choose Research & Development over Republican & Democrat)

sync.//

You know I am voting Obama. He is the best option moving forward. All the liberal and conservative "funny" post on social networks and "attack" ads on other media are all partisan fireworks.

In the area of foreign policy, where the president has the most control, Obama has been excellent. I agree almost 100% with his approach. I still have problems with Syria and Guantanamo, but these things I will push again after the election regardless of who is president. Not so much attention has been paid to what he is doing in the Pacific/East/China, where again I think his administration is doing a good job. He and his administration have established policies that will work in the long term.

In the area of economy, the president has only so much control. If you think a president's leadership (8yr max) has a major effect on the economy then you are delusional, and I could then effectively say that President Bush lead us into economic disaster after 8yr of robust economic growth under Clinton. It is a silly argument. However, the leadership does help anchor economy growth expectations, much like Fed Policy helps anchor inflation expectation.

From my meager understanding of economics and the global finance crisis, monetary policy has been correct. Moving forward correct US fiscal policy is needed. That means hard choices. I am more confident in Obama than Romney at making these hard choices. Romney will make good choices too. He can compromise and come up with good plans. I give you as an example the Health Care plan for Massachusetts. I am sure if Romney becomes president, Republican-person will be very angry at some of the eventual policies that will be made. That is just the nature of the beast. (Of course, Republican-person and his brother will blame it on the Democrats, ie me and my uninformed and ignorant, or naive and utopian-delusional sister for "making" Romney compromise)

But I understand where Republican-person is coming from and the tendency to vilify the opponent. This is one way to get outliers (like yourself, loose-Republican) to stick with the group (Republicans). This won't work with me (not outlier, Liberal) or his brother (not outlier,  Conservative). However, if we just go in every direction, where every single group goes off in the direction they want to go, then we end up going no where (I keep thinking Israel politics). So we have to play this game, of building consensus into an easy choice: R or D. And we have to do this every few years. And vilifying the opponent unfortunately works in building group cohesion and thus helping, in a way to make the R or D choice.

My fear is that there is no long term direction! (long term meaning 50, 100, 200 years from now) Right now we can't seem to see even 10 yrs down the road. Individuals do, but the group just can't. No one wants to lose their car just so that someone else can get a free ride. This way of thinking is correct and true in some ways. But it is not totally true at the group level and to make policy with this way of thinking is completely wrong. Which groups are getting the free ride? It is too easy then to say... the Jews, the blacks, the gypsies. As individuals we would never think this, but group dynamics work in odd and unique ways.

Group behavior is reflected how many people, in sum do things. They do things that are easier to do. It is too complex to explain the in and outs of Healthcare reform, Marginal Tax rate, Wealth Gaps, the channels (no one really knows) of how Monetary Policy effects the economy.

This vilifying of opponents, this one mechanism to building group consensus is archaic yet effective!  However, I think in the long run, it will get us into even more trouble. Can't we build group unity and consensus structured around data and science?! I know that data and science can still be subjected to interpretation and distortion and abuse but at least its not so ugly. At least it offers a more muted, rational, calmer way of decision making. Maybe.


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Guttenberg & plagiarism

I don't know the specifics.
But that is the beauty of a blog. You can spout anything with impunity.
(you can't if you hold high public office though)

The German Federal Minister for Defense has been accused of plagiarism in his PhD dissertation.
His name is Herrn Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
His position is Bundesminister der Verteidigung

His main argument against the claims of gross, and systematic plagiarism is that in the end it doesn't matter. You should judge him on how he has performed his job as defense minister.

Whatever.

Why can't we just get another Bundesminister der Verteidigung?
There are many who can do the job and who haven't lied about their accomplishments.
We don't live in a time where the pool of candidates is small.

And it doesn't take a genius to do the job.

Elected people always think that they are the only ones who can do the job.
(Dictators, despots, and kings think this too). And the public has been fooled into believing this for a long time now.  Unfortunately, the public is waking up.

Karl might be a nice guy. He might be doing a very good job is minister. But if there is a large pool of candidates who are nice guys and can do the job just as well, why keep Karl?

If you honestly believe that in all of Germany, there is no one who can do Karl's job as well or better that Karl, then lets keep him. Otherwise, lets get rid of him.