This is a book by James Gleick.

The topic of Chaos was all the rage among a few of my engineering colleagues back in the 1980s.  I thought it was vaguely interesting, but I didn’t spend any time finding out if it had any practical application for me.  When one of my simulation customers expressed interest, I dismissed it pretty handily.

Now this 20 year old book by a science writer explains the topic in a way that is not too hard for me to grasp given my background.

It does provide a different way of looking at things in mathematics, physics,  economics, biology, medicine, psychiatry, social science, and more.

The traditional education in science and engineering biases most of us from looking at the world this way.  Having this aspect cut off from our train of thought precludes our understanding of a lot of important phenomena.

After I finish this book, I am dying to find out what has happened in this field in the 20 years since this book was written.

Follow this link to Robert Kuttner’s article in The Huffington Post.

Here we go again with the stories about how Obama is failing on the economy.  I hate to bring this up again, but Robert Kuttner does seem to be making sense.

In one of the response comments, I found an interesting video of Nassim Taleb appearing on CNBC. I don’t yet know who this guy is or whether he knows what he is talking about.  I am going to find out though.

Follow this link to the letter that Joseph Girard wrote to the editor of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. They headlined the letter with the title, “Pro-life is about human rights”

Follow this link to the letter to the editor that I wrote in response or read below.

I applaud a letter writer from Worcester who takes a principled stand without exception for the human rights of the fetus (Telegram & Gazette, June 22). I presume that he would also stand by the principle, without exception, for the human rights of women.

What I would like the antiabortionists to explain is how they remain true to both principles, without exception, when there is a conflict between the two. Clearly an exception has to be made on one or both principles.

Only when antiabortionists recognize this conflict can there be any point in having a discussion.

Follow this link to the Dianne Williamson column titled, “Another rigor of priesthood ends in scandal” . This is the one that Joseph Girard says prompted his letter.

Follow this link to the story North Korea Threatens To Wipe Out The U.S. “Once And For All”.

In response to this story, I posted the following comment:

Reminds me of my cat when she wants attention in the morning.

1. Meow loudly and repeatedly

2. Jump up on the bed.

3. Walk on my face.

4. Jump up on the bureau.

5. Start knocking glass objects onto the floor.

When this cat wants attention, she will keep escalating until she gets it. It’s merely a question of how much I want broken before I give her the attention that she wants.

Can we give this guy a little attention before we have to blast him off the Korean peninsula along with all his innocent subjects?

My comment generated quite a few reposnses.  One of the most intriguing comments was:

Could be worse. Have you seen “Simon’s Cat”?

I couldn’t help going to Google to try to find out what this comment meant.

I found Simon’s Cat on YouTube.  Here is the video, titled “Let me in”,  that is most relevant to my post.  Oh, wait, this one’s better – Simon’s Cat ‘TV Dinner’.  Hold on, maybe this is the one – Simon’s Cat ‘Cat Man Do’.

There is a little commercial at the end, but I thought this was funny enough that I posted it anyway.

The Hampton Virginia Daily Press is reporting that:

Asked if he had spoken to the president, Wright said: “Them Jews aren’t going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he’ll talk to me in five years when he’s a lame duck, or in eight years when he’s out of office. …

Given Rev. Wright’s level of education and oratorical skills, I find it hard to believe that he would be so ungrammatical and yet serious at the same time.

You cannot find a full report of all of his remarks in context anywhere on the web.  The article does not say to whom he was talking nor when he said it.

At almost the same time the Des Moines Register has an article Obama’s former pastor accents inclusiveness about a recent appearance of Rev. Wright. The following is an excerpt from the article:

His message was a surprising one for many in the crowd.

Terry Wehrman of Cedar Rapids said he had heard Wright only through short sound clips. He said he was struck by Wright’s intelligence and message of inclusiveness.

“I came away extremely impressed,” Wehrman said.

Jill Flyr of Des Moines said she liked Wright’s recognition of Saturday’s honorees.

If the press were reporting accurately on Rev. Wright, why are people who hear him in person so surprised at what he has to say?

Search my blog here for other posts that I have made about Rev. Wright.

Follow this link to see the story of  Lakhdar Boumediene’s unjust captivity and see his interview by ABC News.

If this story does not make you want to redouble your efforts to bring Bush/Cheney to justice, I don’t know what will.

What do you think posterity will say about you if you don’t join the fight?

Follow this link to an editorial in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

The editorial is in support of the Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act. This bill has been introduced by two Republicans, Sen. David Vitter and Rep. Tom McClintock.

The description says, “RAISE would amend the National Labor Relations Act to permit employers to pay unionized employers incentive wages outside the normal limits imposed by collective bargaining.”

I sent the following comment to the newspaper:

Maybe some of your readers would take your editorial about the Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act hook, line, and sinker.

Those of us who didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday are a little suspicious of the description of this act introduced by two Republicans in Congress.

The bill is too new to find out anything about it except for the description provided by Sen. David Vitter and Rep. Tom McClintock.

However, a bill introduced by two Republicans who merely want to raise the wages that union workers can earn makes me think I smell a rat.  I am waiting for complete details so I can find out where the rat is buried.

After hearing a couple of stories on Worldfocus tonight, I felt compelled to write them this letter:

Martin Savidge needs to be careful of his use of the word despite.

The definition that I have for the word is “In classical logic, a contradiction consists of a logical incompatibility between two or more propositions. It occurs when the propositions, taken together, yield two conclusions which form the logical inversions of each other. …”

When Pakistan says that the war in the Swat valley turns in their favor you cannot say “despite this the curfew continues.”  When a war turns in your favor it is not the same as winning it or the war is over.  So there is no contradiction in continuing a curfew.

When President Obama tells the Israeli government some painful truths that they need to hear, you cannot say that despite this he is trying to restart peace talks.  When your allies won’t talk peace because they don’t understand the truth, you might want to tell them the truth in order to get talks started again.

On June 8,2009, I got an email response.

Thanks for the lesson Steven… We’ll try not to be so verbally cavalier…

Regards,

Martin Savidge