8pov

The world can certainly do better than this. Here's why.

Thursday, November 17

Lot More

"KERRY:

"'I mean, we can remember when President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with DeGaulle. And in the middle of the discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, "Here, let me show you the photos." And DeGaulle waved them off and said, "No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me."

"'How many leaders in the world today would respond to us, as a result of what we've done, in that way? So what is at test here is the credibility of the United States of America and how we lead the world. And Iran and Iraq are now more dangerous -- Iran and North Korea are now more dangerous.'

"'... You don't help yourself with other nations when you turn away from the global warming treaty, for instance, or when you refuse to deal at length with the United Nations.

You have to earn that respect. And I think we have a lot of earning back to do.'"


"LEHRER:

"'Ninety seconds.'

"BUSH:

"'Let me -- I'm not exactly sure what you mean, "passes the global test," you take preemptive action if you pass a global test.'" (italics added)

Obviously the President, in the conduct of his affairs doesn't understand the concept of responsibility. Ignorance, ever his best friend, is his first response. This was the weakness that Bush exhibited throughout the first debate. Reacting violently to the notion of testing, of being held accountable for his actions, Bush proceeds...

"'My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure.'"
This attitude is why no-one wants him to invite himself over to their house. The security of the country, as it turns out, was never threatened by Iraq, because there were no chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons materials in the enitre country. Instead Bush has found himself in a trap. Iraq baited him, making him believe that there was a threat, US troops invaded, and now more than 2000 troops have died and more than 30 000 civilians have died.

By the by, Saddam Hussein is on trial for the massacre of 143 Shia men in 1982. Bush, whose government is crumbling about him, is responsible for each of the 33 000 deaths in Iraq since 19 March 2003. Iraq may yet set precedent for halting US intervention as foreign policy. If so, at this rate, Hussein could be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Contrast is a very funny thing, and, no, he can't get the prize. But, neither can Bush.

"'My opponent talks about me not signing certain treaties. Let me tell you one thing I didn't sign, and I think it shows the difference of our opinion -- the difference of opinions. And that is, I wouldn't join the International Criminal Court. It's a body based in The Hague where unaccountable judges and prosecutors can pull our troops or diplomats up for trial.

"'And I wouldn't join it. And I understand that in certain capitals around the world that that wasn't a popular move. But it's the right move not to join a foreign court that could -- where our people could be prosecuted.'"

Obviously, the Prez is more than a little concerned about the possibility of being called, himself, to answer for his actions. Or, he simply doesn't believe that war crimes exist. What he does believe is that America, unlike other nations, must be permitted to act with complete autonomy.

He maintains an obvious double standard. On 30 September 2004, he denies the validity of the ICC, just in time for Christmas his troops uncover Saddam Hussein, and on 19 October 2005, Hussein is put on trial by a court in New Iraq under US occupation. Dubious authority of the court has already been called into question by the Hussein defense team, refusing to recognize the validity of the court and refusing to accept the manner in which he was removed [read:escaped] from office.

US and Iraqi interests are aligned in refusing ratification of the Rome Statute, denying the authority of the ICC. Others short listed nations: China, Israel, Libya, Qatar, and Yemen. Of note, one of the final acts of the President Clinton was the signing of the Rome statute on 31 December 2000. However,

"Israel, the United States and Yemen signed the statute at the end of 2000, but the United States has continued to insist on immunity for American forces.

On May 6, 2002, the Bush Administration informed the United Nations Secretary-General that 'the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on December 31, 2000.' The United Nations has not removed the name of the United States from the official list of signatories." (from wikipedia)

"'My opponent is for joining the International Criminal Court. I just think trying to be popular, kind of, in the global sense, if it's not in our best interest makes no sense. I'm interested in working with our nations and do a lot of it. But I'm not going to make decisions that I think are wrong for America.'"

Interestingly enough, the interests of the President and his investors, er... constituents have neatly aligned with those of America, regardless of the cost in terms of human lives. As long as more foreigners die than Americans, American interest in winning will be satisfied.

Stop war. All human lives are valuable.

Global Test

... I know its over, but it pissed me off at the time. Here, let's hop into the ol' Way Back Machine.

Maybe I should redate this post, but that wouldn't be any good either... rewritining history like that. Anywhoo...

The words heard, and ridiculed, 'round the world were spoken by John F. Kerry during the first of three presidential debates in 2004. Kerry, when questioned about the US pre-emptive strikes, he referred to "a global test."

Here's the quote from http://www.debates.org/

"LEHRER:

"New question. Two minutes, Senator Kerry. What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

"KERRY:

"The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.

"No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

"But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

Interestingly enough, for the rest of the election campaign, Bush and his team twisted this quote, undermining the rest of Kerry's campaign. They reconstrued it to make the American people believe that he, Kerry, would cede control of all American Foreign policy to the UN, or other exterior entities. Basically, Bush used the third grade understanding of the word "global" against Kerry, knowing full well that the lowest common denominator theory of media play would work in his favor.

Kerry proposed a global test among Americans in the same sentance. "[T]he global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing[.]" The gaffe of including proving it to the rest of the world was probably what did Kerry in, but I understood what he was going after. Interestingly enough, the Democrats and the rest of the "democratically" elected senate, and most of the rest of the world, are asking questions about the pre-emptive strike against Iraq: questioning the Bush administration, really, about "why you're doing what you're doing[.]"

The moral of the story, don't provide answers on 30 September 2004, to questions that will be asked in October 2005. It will not get you elected, or even noticed. It will have you ridiculed.

Tuesday, November 15

Patent 6960975 - Spaceship

I've compiled here some of the online publications pertaining to this patent. Enjoy.

from www.dose.ca

The U.S. government has granted a patent on a futuristic spaceship designed to approach light speed and escape gravity — by bending space, time, and probably the laws of physics.

This means you can’t build a ship able to do these things unless you get permission from Boris Volfson, of Huntington, Ind. This is his own invention, along with a new type of pinking shears.

from http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/

The USPTO issued Patent 6,960,975 on November 1, 2005. The object of the patent? A spaceship which moves by creating "a spacetime curvature anomaly outside the space vehicle". I kid you not. Read it for yourself.

I'm taking an intellectual property law course this semester. One of the requirements of a valid patent is the "utility" requirement, which has three components. First, the technology must have general utility, or in other words, it must actually do something productive. Third (you'll see why these are out of order in a second), the utility must be beneficial/moral - you can't get a patent on a biological weapon, for example. The second component of the utility requirement is "operability" - the patent must work as described. Apparently this requirement is now optional.

My back-of-the-envelope analysis of the social value of this patent (caveat emptor, as always) is below the fold.

from National Geographic

Volfson's craft is theoretically powered by a superconductor shield that changes the space-time continuum in such a way that it defies gravity. The design effectively creates a perpetual-motion machine, which physicists consider an impossible device.

..."The patent office used to say that they didn't patent perpetual-motion machines, but it turned out that there really was no such rule," Park said.

A 1990 federal court ruling against inventor Joe Newman, who applied for a patent on a motor that he said could return more energy than it consumed, was interpreted as precluding patents for such devices.

..."The effect that [the court ruling] has had is that patent seekers no longer call them perpetual-motion machines," Park said. "Now it's called capturing zero-point energy."

Zero-point energy is a real type of energy produced by the miniscule movements of molecules at rest. Harnessing this energy is theoretically possible, but the task seems, at least for the moment, practically impossible.

from Boris Volfson, the inventor:

This proposal is for the patented inflationary vacuum spaceship. The implementation of this proposal would take years and billions of dollars. All new spaceships cost billions to develop. However, it would be cheap, quick and easy to build an orange-sized, electrically-powered “breadboard” device of my patent. The device could be gently placed, with the shuttle’s mechanical arm, on the shadow side of the next space shuttle, fired up, and observed whether it moves comparatively to the shuttle.

from me:

Well, the jury's still out. No-one woulda thought that Einstein would come out of no where to be the foremost authority on physics in 1915. This guy, Boris, might be onto something. Granted, it's gonna take more than a few fridge magnets and an orange to make it work, but, what if it does? What if his theory is proven? Does this change the way that the world works? Certainly. The quest for perpetuatal motion has been at the basis of physics since Newton and his apple. Personally, I've always believed it to be possible, but, then again, the Laws of Physics say that it can't be.

Insofar as conventional motors are concerned, I buy that. No one can produce a machine that produces more energy than it consumes. It is for this reason that the machine that humanity has created for itself - industrial economy - concerns me. It is impossible to support humanity perpetually on this machine, eventually everything will be consumed and a dark age will follow. But, back to the point...

No conventional motor can be perpetual, but, a motor that exploits some natural energetic source (i.e. magnetism, gravity, nuclear forces) should be possible. We cannot consume gravity, but, there must be some means by this constant unchanging force can be used to generate energy. Magnetism, too, could prove to be a source of energy. The VanAllen belts, responsible for our protection from the solar winds and the architects of the Auroura Borealis, are proof positive of a naturally-occurring magnetosphere. Tapping into this energy, without its consumption, is a possibility.

Remember, something is only a problem as long as there is no solution. Good luck, Boris. Hope this one pans out for you.

Everything Sucks

... well it sorta does.

It depends on your perspective, your point of view, so to speak (incidentally, the first time I've ever dropped the title of this blog in context).

The world is doing the stupid dance. A war rages that no one wants to pay attention to. It's the 70s all over again, and, instead of Vietnam, people are dying in Iraq on a daily basis because of political buffoonery. But no-one cares... we, the powerful, are more concerned about the media blitz of Eva Longoria, or the last and next games of poker. There's hurricanes and political corruption to be concerned with, not that it has anything to do with the war...

"The cost of living is going up, I've got a job to go to every day, why should I worry about anything outside of that. Besides, everything will either stay the same or get worse... I just have to get mine while I'm here."

"What? What am I after you ask? Happiness, of course. great vacations, a nice place to live, a car or two, and good family life."

"What else? What else is there?"

"Ummm... let me get back to you on that."

Insulation is the name of the game. If one is sufficiently insulated from reality, one can start to enjoy one's life, absent-minded of the elements that construct the existence one enjoys. It is this pleasent separation from reality -- a synaptic schism -- that permits acceptance of the unknown interim.

If individuals were aware of all of the action potentials leaping across all of the synapses of every part of the body, even for a moment, the ensuing state of awareness would transcend all existence...

"I don't care how it works, I just need to know that it works."

It seems that the human condition is to be content in falling short of potential. to make do with what limitations there are instead of pushing toward new and attainable solutions. Setting the bar lower with each ensuing generation ensures a backward slide for culture and reason, for humanity at large. This philosophy, disseminated at large by those with a vested interest in guaranteeing general failure among individuals, secures and furthers success of few people in the process.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it doesn't promote achievement.

Sunday, November 13

Iran Recant

I'd like to recant a portion of my previous statment (NNPT vs. Iran). New information has arisen that I was unaware of.

"The dark underside of nuclear power has always been its potential to aid in the production of nuclear weapons, through the production of plutonium Ð an inevitable byproduct of reactor operation. Of all commercial reactors, the CANDU design produces the most plutonium per unit of energy, and is the most difficult to safeguard."

http://www.cnp.ca/issues/exporting-disaster.html

If Iran is intent on reactivating its nuclear reactors, and, if world powers continue this merry dance toward total self-annihilation under the guise of mutual terrorist acts, then, it is inevitable that Iranian powers will seek to generate nuclear weapons for self-defense. Only with the stabilzation of international relations, a position that will not come to pass with current US foreign policy in place, will the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation in Iran, or any other nation, be quieted.

Self-defense is the all-too common reason for taking up arms. A perceived threat is sensed, arms are taken up, death and destruction ensues. Hopefully, one day, threats need not be perceived at all.

Incidentally, if Canadian reactors produce the most Plutonium per unit of energy, where did it all go? South of the Border, perhaps?

Friday, November 11

Haters.

Anne Rice haters. Read Memnoch the Devil. Then judge.

So she wrote a goth Jesus book, so what?

Read it, it's good.

Friday, November 4

Killing, Lying, Numbness

There are two types of people in the world. Those who have a taste for killing, and have possibly killed in the past, and those who have not. The world, at present, demands of people that killing and destruction be sanctioned as a means to an end.

Empowerment, especially when the act of killing is distant from the command, is dangerously seductive. It shapes the manner in which one conceives of all remaining life. Taking life can make one intoxicated with power. Barring remorse, permitting only attraction or apathy in the act, a need can build to incur such destruction again and again. Such individuals are monstrous.

The design on human affairs is built on a foundation of incurring destruction. Taking life is, iteslf one such form of destruction. Pollution, deforestation, agriculture, and the like are all such examples of the underpinnings of society as reliant upon the destruction of other living things. In appreciation of the fact that there is only destruction to generate "progress," there is nothing in this progressive world that is in keeping with the sustainence of any living thing. Killing is the only way to get ahead.

Justification of killing and destruction is tantamount to epic lying. The lies that humanity tells to justify and to cover up the manner in which our affairs are conducted abound. Destruction is perpetuated and the pillars of society tell lies to cover their tracks. For example, progress and economy as the highest of ideals in place of the natural resources destroyed. Much in the same manner, lies mask the factors that drive the powerhouse economies of the world. Heavy reliance upon cheap labour to create massive profit margins. The high held ideal, large profits mask the reality of cheap labour. The ends, again, justifying the means.

If the means is always to be veiled in some false justification, where will it end? Already, we occupy a world wherein the single, most-powerful nation has initiated a war on false pretense. The surrounding global state of emergency, the War on Terror, justifies away the existence of two groups: those fighting for freedom and those fighting against freedom. The distinction remains tenuous as the association of the word "terrorist" can be applied to both camps.

The level to which conflict has risen at this point in human history, where "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," is only proof positive that nothing has been learnt from our history. With each incremental rise in security, there is a consequent fall in the level of freedom. Security and freedom, intricately associated, are never tied together in this way in media [read: propaganda]. Being hammered again and again with these ideals, both of penultimate import, the paradox is blinding. To deal with it, only numbness will do.

It is freedom for which we all fight, everywhere in the world. Freedom to practice religion as we each see fit, freedom to practice government as we each see fit, freedom to practice economy as we each see fit. Basically, freedom to live. The world we share is growing smaller, and more crowded. The possibility of global acceptance of any system - of faith, dollars, or governance - diminishes with time. Individuality and collective acceptance, too, are paradoxically promoted.

Be yourself and fit in.

"Ignorance is strength, war is peace, freedom is slavery. "

The cost of all of this fighting, not only in wars but political infighting, economic competition, and the like, is its perpetuity. The lust for destruction, death and conquest never leaves. Humanity is a monstrous machine, there is no remorse for the destruction incurred. In fact, the only means by which any progress can be made is in the employment of destructive acts.

The enlightenment that escapes societies is the capacity to co-operate, to abandon killing, and to create without destruction. Without this understanding, the only refuge for humanity is resolute numbing. While some drug themselves, others occupy themselves vigorously, blocking out the contradictions. The search for an answer remains. It is plain to see...

... stop killing, stop lying, stop numbing. Find a way.