TedPage

I recently finished Noam Chomsky's book on foreign policy and I'd have to say that it is depressing. I guess all books looking into US Foreign policy over the last 50 years would be depressing, but Dr. Chomsky pulls no punches.

I think that is one of the most depressing parts of his analysis is the length of time that it has happened. You want to believe that there are good guys and bad guys. If just Bush hadn't gotten elected it would have all been different. Yeah, maybe we wouldn't have attacked Iraq, but it would be hard to say that US foreign policy would be distinctly different. We'd still be "promoting democracy" in the same haphazard and opportunistic ways as before, and we still would be entwined in the politics of oil in the middle east. So what could change it all?

I think that the balance of power in the world would need to shift so that the US isn't a sole actor. In this way, the US wouldn't be able to steamroll decisions over countries that want very badly into US markets. If there were other markets, they would be in a better negotiating position, and thus the US policy would have to include more compromise and negotiation.

Noam puts together some interesting scenarios on how a change of power could happen based on the politics of oil. China and India are both growing countries, eager for more energy, mostly oil. They have amazing access to the countries of the middle east -- perhaps even being able to pull oil directly down a pipeline to their countries. If they were able to pull together a trading bloc for this oil, that would shift the balance of power significantly. That leaves the US negotiating with countries like Venezuela for oil, who've already started showing their dislike of US politics by making oil deals elsewhere.

In a humorous light, this scenario lays out a justification for attacking Iraq. Not for WMDs, but to grant access to the oil reserves that Saddam Hussein was unlikely to let the US into. After sanctions and regular bombings, you can rest assured that he would be more willing to sell his oil to Russia or China. So, in the interest of maintaining US access to the energy it is "addicted to" (to use The President's words) we had to attack Iraq. Oh, I'm glad I started this paragraph with "humorous," it's turning more depressing.

Back to the book. I liked the book, for nothing else to fill in some of the plot lines that I've missed over the last couple of decades. I don't know that you could call Dr. Chomsky a non-bias source on the topic, but there is good information to be known. Unfortunately, in many places I found the book to read like "soundbites," perhaps excluding some of the quoted author's opinions. I wish I had the time to check all the references. I think it is a good read, especially for American voters; learn what your country is doing in your name.

posted on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 at 23:45 | permanent link

As someone who has tried to make a joke about similar to the one in this XKCD comic I can see how it could be taken as not ironic. Especially for those who don't know me. I still find it laughable that there are people making this type of misogynous request seriously.

I plan on reducing my rhetoric on the issue. I would encourage you to too. I realize that's avoiding the issue, but the reality is that as long as those people exist it's not ironic. Sad but true.

posted on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 at 00:44 | permanent link

Imagine this: you're at a party and there is a plate of cutout cookies, all uniced. There are bowls of icing of different flavors. Mint. Cherry. Almond. Vanilla. You can then dip the cookie into the icing of your choice similar to a chip in salsa. Enjoy. I would love this.

posted on Thu, 27 Sep 2007 at 19:29 | permanent link

I'm a huge fan of putting information where people need it, when they need it. That's why I was very excited when cities started to put displays on the pedestrian crossing signals counting down until the traffic light was going to change.

The problem comes down to: different people walk at different speeds. So, in order to ensure that someone could or couldn't make it across during the light the timing of the pedestrian signals had to cater to the lowest common denominator. Those who knew they were faster than this rate would find themselves guessing on whether they could cross or not, often getting it wrong. These incorrect judgements would cause congestion while the pedestrian walkways cleared, and that makes the lights less efficient.

The countdown timer combats this problem by giving the pedestrian more information about when the light is going to change. They can then make better judgements about whether there is enough time for them to cross. Or, if they're in a hurry, whether running across the street would help. All in all, it increases the amount of information passed to the user by the traffic light in a situation where a pedestrian can use the information to make a better choice. Whoo! Hoo!

Now the lights are being reconfigured so that the count down timer does not hit zero when the light changes. It hits zero at some arbitrary time before then, and that arbitrary time is different depending on the person who set up the light. Effectively the light is lying to the user about its state. This makes the information effectively useless as people start to ignore an inconsistently reliable source. We're back at where we started.

I'm unsure why so many cities have started doing this. Perhaps there was an article on it in "City Manager Today." But, if I was to guess I would say that it was to combat what I call "The Asshole Factor." This is a factor that needs to be applied into any situation involving groups of humans. In that group there are likely to be a few assholes. These are the people who, when all the cars are merging well, quickly pull ahead and try to get three cars closer in line. The people who trade shares of stock to vapor corporations and rob people of their retirement savings. And, I imagine, people who use the extra information given by the lights to be even bigger assholes -- perhaps even causing car accidents.

So the city managers adjust the traffic lights so that they lie to everyone, to try and make the assholes behave (which never works; they're assholes). The net result is that no one believes in the data that they're being given and the light timers become information noise in our overloaded world.

posted on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 at 23:13 | permanent link