Light, Truth and Gravity

Once I was asked how I could believe in God and science.  It's true that religion and science have a history of conflict.  I think one of the problems is that religions extrapolate dogmas too far, then new scientific discoveries invalidate unfounded beliefs, and the battle begins.  Usually science wins as the theories are proven out.  When religion rationalizes outdated beliefs, it is discredited and the temptation for the "scientifically minded" is to "throw out the baby with the bathwater".

I've managed to see and experience the value in both systems of understanding, and in many instances I am satisfied to see science and religion in agreement.  This happened tonight as I was reading an article on some of the latest thinking in Physics.  The theories start by trying to explain what happens to "information" in the Universe with results of a quantum mechanical explanation for gravity (and dark energy, which no other theory accounts for).   Here's a quote from the article:

Some physicists are convinced that the properties of information do not come from the behaviour of information carriers such as photons and electrons but the other way round. They think that information itself is the ghostly bedrock on which our universe is built.[1]

There seems to be an interesting relationship between "information", "light" and "laws by which all things are governed".

Here are some religious verses:

D&C 88:11-13
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—

13The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

I would equate the bold items as such:

• "light" with "photos and electrons"
• "information" with "knowledge" or "enlightenment"  
• "gravity" with "the law by which all things are governed"
  

So what does this mean to me?

1. Scientific understanding is finite.  
2. Religion provides a hope of infinite understanding.
3. Religion overreaches
4. Science corrects religion with new understanding.
5. Go to step 1.

Enjoy the Holidays with some Economic Headlines

I've been enjoying the holidays: time off work and time with the family.  My usual blog posts tend to be a little too serious and I haven't wanted to ruin the mood for this happy time of year.  The end of the year is approaching so I thought I'd post a list of economic headlines I've been saving up.

The premise I had when I started this was that the economic news seemed to oscillate daily.  I thought I'd try and capture this with the top headline of the day (I missed a few days).  See if you think my premise was valid.

9/14/2010 Wall Street boosted by technology and retail shares (Reuters)
9/15/2010 Mortgage giant losses could reach $400 billion
9/15/2010 Resilient Wall Street edges higher (Reuters)
9/16/2010 Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record
9/16/2010 Wall Street opens lower after data (Reuters)
9/20/2010 Recession ended in June 2009: NBER
9/21/2010 Housing starts at 4-month high (Reuters)
9/24/2010 Wall St jumps on data enthusiasm
9/28/2010 Wall St flat as consumer confidence on tap (mixed report)
9/28/2010 Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Level Since February
10/4/2010 Housing shows stability, factory orders fall
10/4/2010 ...unsustainable fiscal situation... Ben Bernanke
10/6/2010 Wall St opens lower after weak ADP report
10/6/2010 Real estate downturn could last 8 years: IMF
10/8/2010 Economy loses 95K jobs due to government layoffs
10/14/2010 Applications for jobless benefits rise to 462K
10/14/2010 September home foreclosures top 100,000 for first time
10/20/2010 Economy grew sluggishly in recent weeks: Fed
10/20/2010 Wall Street bounces with dollar, earnings
10/21/2010 Shares edge up, whipsawed by dollar, earnings
10/25/2010 Wall St advances on dollar weakness, Fed bets
10/26/2010 Wall St set for weak open on earnings, strong dollar
10/27/2010 Wall St falls on lack of Fed stimulus clarity
10/29/2010 Economy grows at slightly faster pace in Q3
10/29/2010 Economy grew modestly in third-quarter
10/29/2010 GDP growth tepid in Q3, more Fed easing seen
11/4/2010 Wall St rallies as Fed stokes risk appetite
11/8/2010 Fed officials voice concerns about bond buying
11/16/2010 Bond Market Defies Fed
11/29/2010 Citing deficit, Obama freezing federal worker pay
12/4/2010 U.S. unemployment climbs to 9.8%, raising doubts about recovery
12/8/2010 US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off in two years
12/9/2010 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell 17,000 to 421,000 Last Week
12/21/2010 US teen birth rate at all-time low, economy cited
12/28/2010 111th Congress Created More National Debt Than First 100 Congresses Combined

...everything can be taken from a man but one thing...

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

All or Nothing

This week, President Obama announced a plan to freeze the wages of ALL Federal employees for two years,  saving billions of dollars.  My first reaction was "Good for him!  Saving billions is a step in the right direction."  After thinking about it, I realized the fallacy of this move.

While I believe that there are many Federal workers that deserve a wage freeze, not "All" do.

Similar "All or Nothing" thinking:

• ALL people traveling on airplanes are suspected terrorists and are subjected to extreme measures (taking off clothing items, not allowing the carry of any liquids, subject to invasive electronic and physical searching) 
• ALL deep-water drilling must stop for 6-months (Obama's offshore drilling moratorium after the BP Oil Spill), hurting many viable and safe drill sites and impacting the jobs and related economy. 
• The $787 Billion Stimulus included ALL spending ideas (Why not pick the most valuable spending ideas and then authorize spending as needed?).
• The Healthcare Reform Act included ALL 2000+ pages of reform (why not just pick the best couple of ideas and see how they work?)

This problem isn't Democrat nor is it Republican.  It's a "leave it to me, I know best" mentality.  When the All or Nothing decisions are made they typically result in unintended bad consequences.  The resulting criticism draws the excuse that "it would be too hard to sort out the good from the bad" or "we'll fix it later"[1].  

Extreme examples of "All or Nothing" thinking

• During the French Revolution, the idea that ALL Aristocrats were bad and should be executed.
• In early U.S. history, the idea that ALL blacks were inferior and NONE should be allowed basic civil rights.
• Nazi Germany's idea that ALL Jews are bad for Germany 
• During World War II, the idea in the U.S that ALL Japanese immigrants were bad and should be put in concentration camps. 

What would be a better approach to cutting the cost of Federal wages?  Here's my idea:

1. Evaluate the relative "value" of all Federal Departments and Agencies (listed here)
2. Determine a percentage that each Department/Agency needs to cut.
3. Give the head of each Dept./Agency the task of making the cuts.
4. The head of each Dept./Agency then performs steps 1-3 for his subordinates.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until you reach the bottom of the decision makers.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 evary 1 to 12 months until you've balanced the budget.

Senate Save Us From The Practical Problems

I was watching the C-SPAN coverage of the Senate Committee on Air Cargo and Airport Security hearing[1] (a reasonable alternative to watching Glee).  This hearing was timely due to the recent controversy with the full body scanners at airports and pat-downs. [2]

It was obvious to me why Congress has such a low approval rating.  Do these Senators really think they are making us safer? My least favorite was Senator Levin (at 45 min in video [1]). He managed to point out 19 times during his 7 minutes of questioning that the "practical problems" had not been solved. I had no idea what point he was trying to make. The Senators did speak for us public by saying we would rather experience delays in shipping, be patted down by airport security, etc. than suffer another failed attempt like the underwear bomber or printer cartridge bomb.

Thanks for taking care of us!

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urineWoman With 2 Artificial Knees Describes 'Sexual Assault' By Screener...
Searched because she wore a skirt
Cancer-surviving flight attendant forced to remove prosthetic breast...
TSA Apologizes For Making Boy Remove Leg Braces
Wow!  I agree with Senator Boxer on this one!

Going to far...Child scream's "Stop touching me!"

Civility, Debt and Partisanship

I was raised to believe that debt is bad and should be avoided with few exceptions.  Not surprisingly, every time I hear about the growing Federal Debt, I feel anxious and worried.  Recently, I came across a Wikipedia article titled National debt by U.S. presidential terms. I was bothered by the premise of the article that Republican Presidents increase the debt and Democrat Presidents decrease the debt.
I was pleased to see the discussion section for the article raise the same issues that I would have:

• What about Obama? 
• Why blame only the President when only the House of Representatives is authorized by the Constitution to originate spending bills? (Article I Section 7 "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives", and by precedence that includes spending). 
• Why did the chart start in 1950, excluding the deficit spending of Democrat Presidents before this period?

I decided to look at the data myself. Of course I abandoned civility by starting with the premise that Democrats are the spenders and Republicans were fiscally responsible. I ended up with the chart below (the color represents the control of the House of Representatives). 

As I looked at the data, I couldn't find a clear pattern. I then looked at partisan splits in Congress and between Congress and the President. If you look at either chart, you can see that there are times when either party was responsible for the debt.

I then remembered my vow of civility and decided to take a fresh look at the data, not blaming either party. The results both surprised me and didn't. Below is a table of periods of rising debt.

What stands out:

• What political party is in power is not significant
• Periods of debt seem to be related to wars and financial crises
• It takes much fewer years to create debt than to pay it off
• Our government has had out of control spending for last 30 years.
• Our government has not wisely used the surplus during recent years of plenty.
• Republicans and Democrats are both right when they blame each other for our debt problems.

Year	Years to Peak	%GDP	Years to Payoff	Historical Event	Party Pres House Senate
1908	1	1.5%	1	Panic of 1907	R	R	R
1916-1919	4	28%	11	World War I	D	DR	DR
1930-1941	12	26%	Not paid for	Great Depression	RD	RD	RD
1941-1945	5	83%	24	World War II	D	D	D
1981-1996	16	35%	???	Cold War Off Gold Standard?	R	RD	D
2002-Present	9+	38%	???	War in Middle East Great Recession	RD	RD	RD
1981-Present	30+	62%	???	???	RD	RD	RD

Night Before The Election

I had a couple friend's over tonight to look over the ballot.  Next election I'll try and get an earlier start.

Here's a summary:

1. I've lived in California my whole life and I'm frankly scared for its future.
2. I'm surprisingly voting mostly for incumbents at the local level.   
• Our city is not in debt.
• I've met the mayor and I like him.  I also trust him.
• I like our cities development plan: the new parks are beautiful and I like the businesses that have come here.
• The schools have continually been improving (at least their test scores).  The incumbents on the school board have lived here over 35 years and raised their kid's here.
3. I guess I picked a good town to live in.  I hope I don't have to move out of California.

In Conclusion:

The enormous power in Sacramento that resulted from such a great state as California has resulted in greed, corruption and enormous debt.

The limited power at the local level allows civic minded people to act responsibly.