http://www.josefg.com/journal Life, the Universe and Everything Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:55:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This from a recent Slate article...very true: America has slid back again into its own special brand of terrorism-derangement syndrome. Each time this condition recurs, it presents with more acute and puzzling symptoms. . . . Moreover, each time Republicans go to their terrorism crazy-place, they go just a ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2010/02/06/america-the-paranoid/ With the 2010 income tax season fast approaching why not have a look how our wise Government spends those hard-earned tax dollars? Here the big picture: Let's see...about 45% of each tax dollar goes to the Military. Not bad. Good thing our wise President Obama has instituted a ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2010/01/28/taxes/ Infected Windows PC at work. Some clueless user "caught" the VUndo.F variant leading to NTdetect not found and eternal reboot cycle. First locate copy of WinXP cd, then boot from cd and repair the installation. This will at least lead to a bootable PC which is still infected with the ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2010/01/19/vundo-virus/ It is clear that God hates poor people. Case in point: Haiti. Please donate to relieve the human suffering.... Thanks! http://www.josefg.com/journal/2010/01/14/disaster-in-haiti/ Been reading Les Leopold's recent book "The looting of America" in which the author beautifully lays out how a deregulated capitalist financial system inevitably leads to boom-and-bust cycles. The book provides great historical perspective and is recommended for everyone interested in the workings of financial markets. In the same ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/12/15/capitalism-101/ Short and sweet excerpt from his excellent column on the Huff-Post: "The truth is that our government is geared to expanded war while disdaining or utterly neglecting the opportunities through non-military approaches. Those are viewed as soft, naïve, and "for them," while war is viewed as hardheaded and "for ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/12/14/jeffrey-sachs-on-afghanistan/ Am pretty unhappy about our (the U.S. ) open-ended military engagement in Afghanistan. Predict it's going to be a boondoggle that will sink many domestic investment projects simply because there won't be any money left over. Obama's ridiculous statement that U.S. troops will start withdrawing from that country in Summer ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/12/10/on-the-afghan-surge-one-last-time-i-swear/ but in science we have a way of deciding whose theory about the world around us is closer to the truth: It's called the Scientific Method whose hallmark is the comparison of predictions to the actually observed results. So if you have a World View that consistently predicts events that ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/12/04/predictions-are-hard-especially-about-the-futureniels-bohr-got-that-one-right/ Conflict resolution starts with an understanding of what motivates both parties. According to President Obama, the U.S. motivation in Afghanistan is "National Security". He closed his address on 1 December 2009 at West Point with this: ...So, no, I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/12/04/what-to-do-in-afghanistan/ The above refers to the so-called Financial Sector in our economy. By Financial Sector I mean Banks and other lending and trading institutions and the Stock markets whose sole purpose is to efficiently aid the flow of capital within society. Efficient allocation of capital and resources is important for the ... http://www.josefg.com/journal/2009/10/18/putting-he-cart-before-the-horse-how-a-servant-became-the-master/