Deep Politics: Environment, Democracy, Health, Privacy — and a Bit of Fun

Bicycles are a fabulous invention; one of the best ever. Right up there with fire and the USB connector.

Best Bike Seat Ever

Transportation made easy, fast and cheap. Plus you stay in healthy shape without realizing that you are exercising.

But (no pun intended) what is the huge drawback to bicycles? If you’ve ever taken a long ride – say over an hour or so – what is your biggest complaint?

Right – the seats are awful. Some would say excruciating. They seem almost intentionally painful. They put all your weight on your crotch – on a piece of stretched leather (if you are clever you added a gel-covered seat). And if either foot ever slips off a pedal – what is the result ? the “seat’s nose” (or the top tube) slams into one of your most favorite sensitive places. Aughhh !

(There’s a rumor that Cheney and Rumsfield ordered GiTMO detainees to ride 10-speed bikes 3 hours a day just so they would have to endure bike seats.)

OK I’m kidding, however, The New York Times caught my attention with an article “Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life by Sandra Blakeslee“.
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Do you understand the nuclear radioactivity levels resulting from the Japanese nuclear plant crisis?

Radioactive Warning

This article explains the three major ways radioactivity is measured, to help you compare the numbers reported by the media – so you can make up your own mind whether the amount of radioactive material leakage is dangerous.
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Curies, Becquerels, Grays, Sieverts, rad, rem, roentgen . . .

Radiation Chart
Click twice to see chart full-size

Can you explain the meaning of nuclear radiation levels from the Japanese nuclear meltdown crisis?

Can you figure out how much radioactivity is dangerous?

This article explains the three major ways radioactivity is measured, and helps you compare the amounts of radioactivity reported – so you can make up your own mind whether the amount of radioactive material leakage is dangerous.

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US President Obama warned high-school students in Virginia September 2009 —

“Be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whateaver you do will be pulled up later somewhere in your life.”

Not Facebook
Credit: twrtoday.com

“They trust me [with their personal information]. Dumb f**ks.” – Facebook President Mark Zuckerberg, 2004 ¹

“Leave Facebook if you don’t want to be spied upon” warns the European Union in March 2015

I do have a Facebook account . . . but I do NOT and will NOT use Facebook for communication – or anything else.

Please *** NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, respond to a request from my Facebook account. (If you get a request or any communication from my Facebook account – it is clearly a scammer. Do not reply. Call me instead.)

This may seem a startling announcement from someone who has been at the leading edge of computer and information technology for decades.

I’m hardly alone.

Here’s a seriously cautionary article by Wired UK’s Editor David Rowan “Six Reasons Why I’m Not On Facebook.

I truly understand the benefits of web based Social Networks, and if you read to the end of this article I will let you know when I have found a system I can trust to genuinely protect you and me both.

I particularly want Elected officials and government employees to understand how much private information they are exposing by using Facebook, so they can adopt laws and regulations protecting our privacy.

(And NO, I do not “friend” anyone on Facebook for the reasons you will soon see . . .)

Here are the:

Top 10 Reasons I Refuse To Use Facebook

(Warning: If you viscerally “love” Facebook – you should stop reading right here) . . .

Update June 2012: Facebook switches off your email and forces you to use their own rusty email addresses. Oops they forgot to ask your permission first – for the 7th time.

Update Janaury 2017: How FacePlant (and Twitter) can destroy your reputation in 24 with a mistaken identity !

Outline – (Examples and links below this short list)

1. Facebook Constantly Lies to You.
2. Facebook Helps Burglars get your stuff !
3. Facebook Helps Stalkers Find You or your Children  !

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Mainstream news stories almost always confuse the terms “Radiation” (photons) and “Radioactive” (materials), which are significantly different things.

• Radiation means visible light and its cousins: electromagnetic waves including X-rays, gamma rays and radio waves.

• Radioactive means those physical materials which emit ionizing radiation or emit particles that cause ionizing radiation.

Radiation

only affects things locally, very locally. While

Radioactive material

can spread in the air and water and emit ionizing radiation all the way around the world.

Here are two examples of correct and wrong usage:

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Recently a group of people, most new to our community, started several local groups often including the term “Sustainable” in their name; e.g. Sustainable Pacific Grove. Their main activities seem to concern energy and trash reduction, and shopping / buying local and “green” goods.

They were successful in getting several local mayors to sign a “Mayors Climate Protection Agreement” and getting several local cities to sign onto the “Urban Environmental Accords.”

However, as they admit – neither document has any force of law. Laudable, but not really meaningful in the hard-ball arena of local politics. I wonder whether anything in politics has changed as a result of those agreements.

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Up until yesterday, the radiation from the failed Japanese Nuclear power plants at Fukushima was described as far less than Chernobyl released.

Experts typically opined by describing the danger along the lines of : “I don’t know how bad the Japanese nuke situation will get, but it won’t be a Chernobyl.”

Now just a few days later researchers report that the fallout is getting uncomfortably high: “Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels.”
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Newspaper writers and editors often defend incompetent reporting with scrofulous logic — “Both sides were angry so it must have been a good article.”

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You probably can NOT guess who is my favorite President since I’ve been of voting age, or why.

You’re right, “favorite” is way too strong. Lets just say the “least disappointing” President.

Its Gerald Ford, but the “Why” may be more interesting.

OK, Quick – what is Gerald Ford known for?

Pardoning Nixon. Yes, that was a giant mistake. It tells the world how American politics lets the powerful get away with murder, sometimes literally. It shows Nixon was disgustingly right when he said “When the President does it, that means it is not illegal.”

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Libyan media reported that 48 people were killed; “mostly children” and three times that many were injured. Associated Press reports that during rescue of the downed fighter pilots, a US aircraft fired on and severely injured 6 Libyan civilians assisting the pilots.
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Monterey Herald’s Joe Livernois-Disgusted with Public Comments at Government Meetings

This is Part 2 of a report on HOPE’s first meeting with the Gary Omernick, President of The Herald, Monterey’s local daily newspaper.

A primary subject on our agenda is the Herald’s 7 year long Blackout; complete news and editorial blackout (censorship) of our Water Management District’s “Right-Sized” Water solution.

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Dr MalPractice - More Common than You Thought

100,000 – 200,000 Medical Error Deaths

Estimates range from 40,000 to 98,000 to 200,000

“Iatrogenic” means Doctor caused Deaths

“A handful” = The number of doctors removed from the Medical field because they caused a patient death. (The actual numbers are unknown because the AMA seems to take great efforts to hide this information.)

“Nocosomial” means Hospital Caused Deaths

“Never Events” are inexcusable outcomes in a health care setting (e.g. surgery on wrong body part)

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President Harry S Truman

“I don’t give them Hell. I just tell the truth about them and they think it’s Hell.”
–US President Harry Truman

That pretty well describes my experience in local politics.

Mark Twain, my father’s favorite humorist, said

“Always do right. this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Mark Twain and Will Rogers are proof that if you want to tell the truth in politics, it helps to have humorist skills.

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Did you ever wonder why newspaper stories are biased in favor of government and business — and against public interests ?

Livernois vs Citizens

Well, we got a rare insight in a Monterey Count Herald blog article by the Herald’s “City Editor” Joe Livernois. A city Editor is responsible for all local stories. A City editor can and does Block stories (sometimes for years), remove or “edit” your quotes, and writes (sometimes highly) misleading headlines.

Livernois boasts of his disgust with citizens who speak at public meetings. He is apparently not the least bit embarrassed about his bitter name-calling attack on those few members of the public who try to help elected officials make good and better decisions, and give them informed advice against making bad decisions.

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