Yikes!

Ok...I have never heard of this guy until today, but after reading the article attached, I can see he spews out hate. (Just like Westboros Baptist church in Topeka) He's up to no good. I hope he doesn't get the attention in NY that he hopes to get. He obiously doesn't like Muslims, but after a little bit of research on him....he hates Mormons equally. Sorry for him in the long run. After preaching so much hate and negativity it must really leave his mind in darkness. What an awful state to live in.

BYU Goes Indepenent

BYU announced that, starting in 2011, it is going independent in football and joining the West Coast Conference (WCC) in other sports accommodated by the WCC.
For me, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I was initially excited when Boise State joined the MWC. Then I was deflated with Utah left for the PAC. Then I was worried that BYU would join the WAC again, which would have been disastrous. Now I am happy again (but not without concern) that BYU is aiming for higher goals by going independent in football.

There are some drawbacks to the plan, but due to lack of time, I will list only the points that come to mind.

1. BYU's main goal is exposure, not money, although the money is nice when you don't have to share it with other conference members.
2. The WCC is a good fit because all the WCC schools are faith-based institutions (mostly Catholic, I think).
3. We can watch all BYU games, both football and basketball, and many other sports.
4. BYU signed a nice contract with ESPN for home games and announced a six game series with Notre Dame.
5. BYU has already been getting calls from various universities for scheduling requests because BYU draws fans extremely well where ever they go. That means money for the scheduled university.
6. The BCS is out of the question for the first few years of independence, but down the road they might be able to work out a Notre Dame-like deal, provided that they perform well enough.
7. Poor Boise State. They thought they were getting into a competitive conference. Now they are left with a conference that very much resembles the WAC they left.
8. Craig Thompson, the MWC commissioner, is upset at BYU, but it was his clumsy, ill-conceived TV contract that he signed several years ago that started the problem. Then he raids the WAC, probably utterly destroying it to head off BYU. Now he must deal with the problem of his own making.
9. Now I must absolutely get that big, flat screen TV I have been dreaming about.

Horrors! Anti-incumbency is sweeping the nation! NOT!

Such a hubbub! Everyone is angry! They're throwing the bums out! The Tea Party Revolution is for real! The American public has awoken!

Sorry to disappoint.

Of the 324 primaries held thus far incumbents have won 317 times...and the bums have been thrown out only 7 (Utah Senator Bob Bennett being one of them). Tomorrow two more incumbents are expected to win (McCain being one of them).

There is clearly no anti-incumbent fervor...not within parties at least...not during the primaries at least. Which 'bums' the American people intend to throw out seems to be only dependent on one block of voters: independents, as usual.

The Anatomy of an Analogy

Before I get into a discussion about man being incapable of understanding the mind of God (as I promised last week and which may end up be a very short essay), I need to provide some groundwork for analogies, which I will rely on fairly heavily. We have had discussions about analogies before, i.e., which ones apply and which ones don't.
An analogy brings a complex topic into focus by mapping well known concepts onto complex or less understood concepts. A good analogy allows a person to apply a certain number of known elements to the same number of less understood elements. For example, the sentence "The test was a piece of cake" has a single element "test" that corresponds to a single element "piece of cake," which conveys the idea that "The test was as easy as eating a piece of cake" (which is actually a simile). Analogies can have more elements. For example, "The test and bonus section were a piece of cake with frosting." However, the more elements we add to an analogy, the more likely it is to break down at some point. In fact, all analogies break down at some point. Also, a bad analogy is one where the elements do not map well onto the intended context.
There is also a problem in that people do not, or at least are not willing, to map the intended information. If an analogy suggests an idea that one is not willing to consider or to accept, then the analogy may seems like a bad analogy. Jesus ran into this all the time in His use of parables, which are analogies that involve an entire story and which usually involves human characters.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a Jewish traveler was mugged and left for dead by the roadside. First, a priest passed by, and then a Levite passed by, and both look the other way. Then, a Samaritan passes by. Samaritans and Jews generally hated each other, but the Samaritan helped the injured Jew. Jesus told the parable in response to a question about the definition of a "neighbor." Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would very likely have made Jesus' audience feel very uncomfortable. In fact, many hated Jesus because His parables made them see things about themselves that they would rather not admit.

Analogies, parables, similes, metaphors, etc. are wonderful and valuable teaching and learning tools, as long as the giver of the analogy skillfully maps the elements and the learner accepts the mapping. Many in Jesus' day did not understand His parables because they did not recognize or refused to accept the mapping of the elements.

That America already has socialist programs is undeniable. I have mentioned several of them in my previous posts on the subject. Reform of America's social programs as they currently exist should be the first step toward creating an American socialism that would at once be superior to existent and previous forms of socialism in the world.

Before taking on reform, it is important to decide what the goals of any comprehensive social program are. I think that the objectives fall into two broad categories. First and foremost, a safety net for the unfortunate and yes, even the unwise. This first category (safety net) would include health care, disability, and unemployment. The second category would address equal access to society's network of opportunities in the government and private sectors. There are many discussions to be had regarding the flushing out of these two categories. However, that is another post.

Reform. All laws and programs have loopholes. We see them in every new legislation. Some of them are left in policies accidentally, others perniciously and on purpose.

Here are some examples of reform:

First, the experiences that Nick and I had with social security disability. We had been wise. We both had and do now have long and short term disability insurance. Nick had expressly bought short term disability insurance, his long term being offered via SkyWest as a benefit. When he fell in, the Hartford Insurance Company fulfilled its contract and paid its contracted amount monthly (even though the paperwork was onerous, it was doable.) What a tremendous help that was to us! However, when it was clear that Nick would transition from short term to long term benefits, the Hartford required us to apply to the government for disability payments before it would pay the long term benefits for which we had contracted with them. The nature of Nick's disease was rare and severe; he was accepted by the government program immediately (much to the surprise of our case workers who said that the government turns down most applications on the first and second attempts, by the way, that process was more onerous that the Hartford's). As soon as the government granted Nick disability payments, the Hartford was off the hook. In essence, the government paid what the Hartford was legally bound to pay. Big business won at the expense of tax payers even though Nick had been paying his premiums since 2002. Lesson: social security should only step in as a last resource, the final safety net, and it should be the least desirable option because it pays less than the private sector, so private sector contracts must take precedence over government programs. To underscore the difference this makes: 20 months of long term payments ended up costing the government $22,68o for which, under contract, the Hartford should have been liable!

In my next post, I will continue with the loopholes we continued (and continue!) to face.

From the conservative side...

This article may be interesting to you.

Starcraft II

Can anyone give me hints on beating "The Great Train Robbery" on hard level? Probably only Alan or Deric.

Proposition Eight Overturned

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker today ruled that California's Proposition Eight is unconstitutional.

The pro-Proposition Eight camp will now appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court. If they lose there,
they will appeal to the United States' Supreme Court. By all accounts I have have listened to or read, the process will take another couple of years.

I suspect that this question will be with us for a very long time regardless of what happens over the next two years.

We have debated the questions together via our family blog quite a bit. I suspect that there is not a great deal that we would say beyond what we have already said. A synopsis of this current decision in California might be helpful.

It's just a mosque.

Much hullaballoo about a mosque that will be built two blocks from ground zero.

I am confounded by those who stand so firmly against the building of this place of worship.

Mayor Bloomberg of New York City said yesterday, "Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question--should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another."

The local Islamic society owns the land, the existing zoning and building codes do not prohibit religious buildings or community centers in this area. I can think of no reason that could possibly trump the free exercise this religion's right to build a house of worship in this location.

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether

DURING the autumn of 18--, while on a tour through the extreme southern provinces of France, my route led me within a few miles of a certain Maison de Santé or private mad-house, about which I had heard much in Paris from my medical friends.

So begins the story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Can we at least all agree that North Korea is run by the patients at Maison de Santé?

From the Telegraph.co.uk
North Korea's entire squad was forced onto a stage at the People's Palace of Culture and subjected to criticism from Pak Myong-chol, the sports minister, as 400 government officials, students and journalists watched.
The players were subjected to a "grand debate" on July 2 because they failed in their "ideological struggle" to succeed in South Africa, Radio Free Asia and South Korean media reported.
The team's coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea.
The coach was punished for "betraying" Kim Jong-un - one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il's sons and heir apparent.
The country, in its first World Cup since 1966, lost all three group games – including a 7-0 defeat to Portugal.
The broadcast of live games had been banned to avoid national embarrassment, but after the spirited 2-1 defeat to Brazil, state television made the Portugal game its first live sports broadcast ever.
Following ideological criticism, the players were then allegedly forced to blame the coach for their defeats.
Only two players avoided the inquisition - Japanese-born Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, who flew straight to Japan after the tournament.
However, media in South Korea said the players got off lightly by North Korean standards.
"In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps," a South Korean intelligence source told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

I feel so badly for the poor (literally and figuratively) citizens of North Korea. Is there not anything the U.S. can do to put the patients back in their padded cells?

Context Is Everything

There are many translation engines on the web. You can input a phrase from any language and get a translation into any language. As long as the context of the phrase is not important, the translation will probably be ok. However, human language is not so simple. Computers cannot handle context and it would take a highly sophisticated software program that is capable of changing and learning to be able to handle context. Input the Japanese phrase "Watashi wa pai desu" and you get "I am a pie." This is a literal translation that does not take context into account. It would be an accidentally correct translation were the speaker playing the role of a pie in a play, but that is a rare context. The mostly likely context is ordering pie in a restaurant, i.e., "As for me, I'll have pie." All of us Worthams know a second language (a fact that I am very proud of), and we can all probably think of similar things in our respective second language (as well as English, for that matter).

However, context is not limited to single phrases. It applies to all forms of language and very likely to other forms of human behavior. The recent brouhaha over Shirley Sherrod is a good example. Ms. Sherrod talked about not giving her best efforts to a white farmer at time well before her career at the USDA. The video clip was thrown out on the Internet by a conservative blogger, and absolutely everyone took the bait, including news organizations, the USDA who fired Ms. Sherrod, the White House who pressure the USDA to do so, and the NAACP who denounced her. Later it was revealed that in the greater context of her speech, she was talking about her path to change away of racist sentiments. Now all of the above parties were eating crow, apologizing, and generally slinking away. As far as I know, the conservative blogger has not apologized, but the video had its intended effect, that is, to bait the NAACP because of its false accusations that the Tea Party is racist, and the NAACP bit hard on the bait.

The following may be a bit partisan, but this is exactly the kind of thing conservatives constantly suffer with. MoveOn.org, Media Matters, and often the MSM in general take conservatives out of context and beat them over the head with out-of-context statements. "Context for we, but not for thee" is the rule of the day for such organizations.

Context also applies to history. Mormons are often the butt of polygamy jokes, which grossly misconstrues the context of the time. Joseph Smith statements are listed line by line in anti-Mormon literature, all without context of language as well as the time period in which the statements were made. Photo-shopping and video-shopping are also types of context switching, i.e., insert a innocuous photo of a person into another photo to put the person in a different and often damning context. With new technology, video-shopping is a new danger. Watch out for it in upcoming elections and issues.

Post Script: Another idea occurred to me this morning. If a person followed me around with a camera and took pictures at inopportune times, I could be portrayed as as an pot-bellied beer drinker. I have on numerous occasions had a bottle of beer in my hand.
Snapshot: Alan is pouring himself a beer!
Context: It is customary for the Japanese to poor each others drink. So my beer-drinking friend would pour my orange juice and I would pour his beer.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
Snapshot: Alan has beer in his refrigerator and there is a strange woman in his kitchen! He is a beer-drinking womanizer!
Context: Yumi had some friends visit from Japan, and they like to have a beer before they go to bed. Hence the beer and the woman.
So photo-shopping may not be required. An accurate photograph can be misused.

Socialism, what is it?

It will be helpful to read by first post on socialism before reading this one.

Socialism has been defined by different dictionaries in different ways. In the past, it has been defined as a preamble to communism and sometimes as a synonym of communism. Soviet socialism was undeniably communist. Marxist socialism was communism before the term communism was coined. National socialism became Nazism. Democratic socialism is generally what we call socialism as it now exists throughout Europe (but no one today considers European socialism to be communism). Socialism in South America is often closer to some form of communism because of South America's jerky history of military rule and government control of wealth (however often without the wealth being redistributed to the needy).

But through most of it, the notion of socialism indicates transfer of money from some who have ample to those deemed to be needy for whatever reason(s). The reasons for this transfer of money usually is the result of compassion, the desire for a stable society, heightened notions of equality/human dignity, etc.

Today's America is already well along the socialist path. There are many American social programs that take taxpayers' money and administer it to others in some way or another. Some of the programs do not appear to be socialist in any way, yet they are by any definition. Some programs shock us because they give money/benefits to the seemingly (and perhaps very clearly) undeserving.

My hope for a continuing American socialism is based on the notion of shared responsibility for others who are in need (there is nothing original about this). If others are truly in need, most of us accept this notion. It is when we perceive that others who receive help from the government and who are undeserving, lazy, unwilling to work, unwise in their personal decisions, foolish with their money (or that of others) that our outrage surfaces.

I would like to see an American socialism that truly addresses needs for the unfortunate and needy with a minimum of abuse.

So I will begin discussing social programs with the hope of parsing out the details that are involved in the preceding paragraph (ie who is unfortunate, what are the abuses and remedies for them). Discussing social programs in a one-by-one approach will break it down to specifics we can discuss precisely without getting off track.

But first, your thoughts on what socialism is today interests me. After all, I cannot expect you to accept straight away what I have written above. But I do hope that you will see that we must not reduce socialism to some nebulous notion of nascent communism. (How's that for alliteration?)
It has become something else. If we don't call our efforts to care for the the needy some form of social program, what do we call these efforts? Many hate the word while using it to describe programs of which they approve (social security, [some and various] social services, socialized medicine (veterans' health care and Medicare are examples of this).

Regardless if you care to comment, my next post will address loopholes in the system that Nick and I encountered. It is important to close these loopholes as part of an effort to assure that American socialism would be superior to previous or current attempts at it by other societies.

Towards an American Socialism

The word 'socialist' has been used quite a bit recently in our nation as an epithet. Socialism is roundly criticized and the word often appears as one 'ism' in a series of other undesirable 'isms': communism, feminism, fascism, liberalism, etc. Creeping is an adjective often paired with it.
After all, wasn't the official name of Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)?

Some time ago, perhaps a month, I mentioned in a post, in a response to Alan I believe, that I would be able to defend/believe in the notion of a socialism that was a uniquely American socialism. Uniquely American because I believe that America would be able to manipulate and administer basic principles of socialism better than most countries that had tried it or that are currently doing so. After all, the grand experiment of mankind governing mankind only continues...no country can yet claim perfection regardless of philosophy.

The thought of this promise has lingered with me. The notion of socialism in the recently modern world and in the current world is ill-defined. Others smarter than me have already written extensively on it, of course. But I have been thinking about it a lot. I have done some fascinating reading. I would like to toss my thoughts out there for two reasons. The first is that writing down my thoughts helps me think them through. The second is to learn from your thoughtful reactions.

I gave the title Towards an American Socialism to this post because I recognize that my thoughts on it will be evolve and because social programs in the US continue to evolve in a changing world.

Among my next posts will be some that will take on aspects of my thinking. Stay tuned and respond!

Sweeping Financial Reform

Another 2000-page piece of legislation. How you can reform everything except Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is quite astonishing. Most of the public has no clue why this may be. The Dems surely know but aren't telling.
Chris Dodd says that "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works."
Pelosi said a similar silly statement about the Health Care bill.
Chris Dodd knows the gig is up. That's why he is retiring and Dems are trying to cram everything in before the new Congress is sworn in next year.

World Cup Soccer Fan

With all of the noise makers at the World Cup Championships...I think Moroni might have started something here.