Doug Casey is a pessimist, but a pessimist on solid grounds. The problems that the U.S. faces are real, serious, debilitating, and potentially catastrophic.
The U.S. debt is not going to simply disappear, unless we print our way out of it --which with all of the discussion about helicopter money going around would not surprise me-- and there are severe consequences if this debt is not dealt with.
But the true rot of our country is not purely economic. The economics are merely following the social and cultural rot that is decaying our country from the inside out. This rot has its source at the philosophy of humanism, and we are seeing the results of humanism applied and lived out on a mass scale. And it will only get worse as the idiocracy takes hold. Our learning institutions are pushing out droves of mindless slaves, who probably couldn't reason their way out of the brown paper bag, while the entitlement culture is eroding what little prosperity was left in the system. Eventually, the only buyer left in the U.S. Treasury market will be the U.S. Federal Reserve who relies on printing money to fund their purchases. Japan is already there; the U.S. is only a few steps behind. The coming economic collapse is very sure, the only uncertainty is the timing.
So, what is the solution?
I am not sure that there is a solution that will actually prevent this, barring major cultural shifts, which I do not see happening. So, I reluctantly admit that Doug Casey may very well be correct when he says, "the only thing that you can do is protect yourself."
So, to protect yourself against currency collapse (the result of excessive money printing), buy gold, silver, real estate, guns, even Bitcoins might work. Anything that is not reliant on the U.S. government for it's underlying value.
I really think that Christians should begin banding together and preparing a set of local church arbitration courts to replace the judicial system that will collapse when the government collapses. At least then some sense of justice will be maintained on a local level, and we can simply arbitrate amongst other Christians for now, and pagans can use it when it becomes necessary.
For European Christians, they need to prepare to care for and protect Muslims when the next holocaust comes; because everything is in place now for the holocaust of Muslims in Europe, all that is required is the spark that lights the keg.
As with all predictions though, the exact timing is very difficult to determine, but this is why we are to remain watchful and keenly aware of the world around us.
You can read Doug Casey's thoughts on the political election in the U.S. here. Be warned though, there is an auto-play video that will load on the page. You can read it below if you want to avoid the auto-play video. And if you feel so inclined, he offers his solutions for purchase, which are very pragmatic solutions.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
What is time? World Views and the Basis of Knowing
This was the question posed by this article in Aeon.
Being a physicist -- at least by education -- and a philosopher at heart, I have pondered this question for many years now, and I have an answer that I use in my own systemic narrative. My concept of time very much plays into my world view.
The author says, "To declare that question outside the pale of physical theory doesn’t make it meaningless," and he is correct. This question is outside of the pale of physical theory. Physics and the theories underlying it do not care about whys. Science exists to answer how, what, where, and when... not why. Why remains firmly in the realm of philosophy and theology. But like the author says, that does not reduce the necessity of an answer to this question, particularly when it plays intimately into framing our world view.
Time, in my mind, is a sequence of events, derived from the continuity, consistency, and cause and effect nature of reality. This idea plays closely with Julian Barbour's Heap concept, and is effectively a relational model of singular universal time. Things change and the very act of changing defines time. Change in the spatial dimension does not count, as in a change in the "properties over space as in a house's change from red on the roof to white on the sides." 1 The directionality of time is produced by entropy and the many one-way processes of the universe. Hot water grows cold. Houses degrade and eventually decay. Order degrades to chaos.
He also goes on to address the epistemological grounds of how we know and how we tie that knowing into meaning. He says that "most threads would follow isolated paths that are without sense or meaning," and while that may be true, it is not necessarily true. Being a systemic thinker, I believe that every action -- no matter how insignificant or remote -- has universal consequences and thus eternal meaning. Your choosing to patron McDonald's or Starbucks tomorrow morning may not seem like a significant choice, but this choice may predicate you meeting a future mate or business partner or someone whose interaction changes your life and theirs and perhaps many more for the better. Even if it does not result in a significant meeting, the event still has consequences which may be unseen, perhaps even forever, yet still play into weaving the grand tapestry of heaps that form reality. Each action that we do matters enormously.
He continues by noting the breach between science and our concept of reality, which is an area that most scientists fail at. He notes, "We tend to fence off science from other areas, imagining that a quantum wave function or a set of relativistic field equations express a fundamentally different aspect of time than the kind of time that is embodied in old family tales." But they are not. Reality is unity. It is contiguous, rational, and understandable because of the underlying intelligence in the design.
Another author, Francis Schaeffer, whose book "How Should We Then Live?" I am just finishing now, addresses this disconnect similarly. He addressed the gap by defining two elements that exist, the particulars -- that is you and I and the dog down the street and the lily pad in the bog in Thailand -- and the universals or absolutes. He points out the chief problem with humanism and humanist thought is this gap. As he says,
Either way though, the world is understandable, rational, and relatable, and I ascribe this intelligence of design to the God of the Bible, because what is stated in the Bible correlates mostly smoothly with what I see in reality. Because of this rationality, I can know and can expect that answers to all questions do exist and that seeking is a worthy endeavor. There are some inconsistencies between the Bible and reality, but none that I cannot attribute to my own incomplete understanding of this reality of which I am a part. Belief in the God of the Bible also has a broad host of other beneficial effects such as certainty of purpose, certainty of self and proper place, and an absolute moral standard by which to judge first myself and secondly everything else in this reality. This moral standard is the basis of order and harmony in society, and compliance with the moral standard is the only means by which utopia will ever be achieved. All of society, law, and justice revolve around this absolute moral standard, and thus it forms the foundation of just and civil society.
Ultimately, though, our perception of this absolute reality is subjective in many ways, and so deception is widespread and easily confused with truth, which is why it is key that each of us be keen of mind and able to sort out truth from fiction by comparing any narrative that we are presented with against what we know and what we believe to be true. In this way, I suppose I identify with Pascal who said, "If I believe in God and you do not; and you are correct, we both lose. However, if I believe in God and you do not; and I am correct, you still lose while I gain everything." Truth is absolute, but our perception of it is not. However, enough hints slip through that we can build a partially complete narrative that God had the kindness to mostly fill out in the Bible. Because of these facts, I can know, I have distinct meaning, and I can judge myself and others accordingly. It is beautiful to begin to see the world as the system that it is, and it certainly makes me regard God even more because of it.
Being a physicist -- at least by education -- and a philosopher at heart, I have pondered this question for many years now, and I have an answer that I use in my own systemic narrative. My concept of time very much plays into my world view.
The author says, "To declare that question outside the pale of physical theory doesn’t make it meaningless," and he is correct. This question is outside of the pale of physical theory. Physics and the theories underlying it do not care about whys. Science exists to answer how, what, where, and when... not why. Why remains firmly in the realm of philosophy and theology. But like the author says, that does not reduce the necessity of an answer to this question, particularly when it plays intimately into framing our world view.
Time, in my mind, is a sequence of events, derived from the continuity, consistency, and cause and effect nature of reality. This idea plays closely with Julian Barbour's Heap concept, and is effectively a relational model of singular universal time. Things change and the very act of changing defines time. Change in the spatial dimension does not count, as in a change in the "properties over space as in a house's change from red on the roof to white on the sides." 1 The directionality of time is produced by entropy and the many one-way processes of the universe. Hot water grows cold. Houses degrade and eventually decay. Order degrades to chaos.
Side note: Entropy is why I believe Darwin's theory is absurd. This world never tends toward increasing order, no matter how long the time scales.The author goes on to discuss the narrative quality of time with two very helpful videos. Time, while not being defined by narrative, displays the narrative that is reality. Events occur and are only memorable, relatable, and understandable in time. The fact that reality tells a story implies that there is a story teller -- or perhaps many. There is definitely intelligence behind the narrative quality of time.
He also goes on to address the epistemological grounds of how we know and how we tie that knowing into meaning. He says that "most threads would follow isolated paths that are without sense or meaning," and while that may be true, it is not necessarily true. Being a systemic thinker, I believe that every action -- no matter how insignificant or remote -- has universal consequences and thus eternal meaning. Your choosing to patron McDonald's or Starbucks tomorrow morning may not seem like a significant choice, but this choice may predicate you meeting a future mate or business partner or someone whose interaction changes your life and theirs and perhaps many more for the better. Even if it does not result in a significant meeting, the event still has consequences which may be unseen, perhaps even forever, yet still play into weaving the grand tapestry of heaps that form reality. Each action that we do matters enormously.
He continues by noting the breach between science and our concept of reality, which is an area that most scientists fail at. He notes, "We tend to fence off science from other areas, imagining that a quantum wave function or a set of relativistic field equations express a fundamentally different aspect of time than the kind of time that is embodied in old family tales." But they are not. Reality is unity. It is contiguous, rational, and understandable because of the underlying intelligence in the design.
Another author, Francis Schaeffer, whose book "How Should We Then Live?" I am just finishing now, addresses this disconnect similarly. He addressed the gap by defining two elements that exist, the particulars -- that is you and I and the dog down the street and the lily pad in the bog in Thailand -- and the universals or absolutes. He points out the chief problem with humanism and humanist thought is this gap. As he says,
Beginning from man alone, Renaissance humanism --and humanism ever since-- has found no way to arrive at universals or absolutes which give meaning to existence and morals.All of humanist philosophy, from the Renaissance up until the 19th century, was devoted to attempting to bridge this gap, unsuccessfully because the only crossing that exists is the one thing that they are completely unwilling to even consider, a personal God. Eventually, philosophy devolved into simply ignoring reason and rationality, and from the end of the Enlightenment up until now has been a violent thrashing between rational observation of reality and the corresponding despair and nihilism or seeking meaning in the irrational arenas of spiritualism, drugs, music, and art. Everyone you meet will fall somewhere into this paradigm, and all of their actions and motivations are derived from their underlying world view and the corresponding beliefs and standards derived from it.
Either way though, the world is understandable, rational, and relatable, and I ascribe this intelligence of design to the God of the Bible, because what is stated in the Bible correlates mostly smoothly with what I see in reality. Because of this rationality, I can know and can expect that answers to all questions do exist and that seeking is a worthy endeavor. There are some inconsistencies between the Bible and reality, but none that I cannot attribute to my own incomplete understanding of this reality of which I am a part. Belief in the God of the Bible also has a broad host of other beneficial effects such as certainty of purpose, certainty of self and proper place, and an absolute moral standard by which to judge first myself and secondly everything else in this reality. This moral standard is the basis of order and harmony in society, and compliance with the moral standard is the only means by which utopia will ever be achieved. All of society, law, and justice revolve around this absolute moral standard, and thus it forms the foundation of just and civil society.
Ultimately, though, our perception of this absolute reality is subjective in many ways, and so deception is widespread and easily confused with truth, which is why it is key that each of us be keen of mind and able to sort out truth from fiction by comparing any narrative that we are presented with against what we know and what we believe to be true. In this way, I suppose I identify with Pascal who said, "If I believe in God and you do not; and you are correct, we both lose. However, if I believe in God and you do not; and I am correct, you still lose while I gain everything." Truth is absolute, but our perception of it is not. However, enough hints slip through that we can build a partially complete narrative that God had the kindness to mostly fill out in the Bible. Because of these facts, I can know, I have distinct meaning, and I can judge myself and others accordingly. It is beautiful to begin to see the world as the system that it is, and it certainly makes me regard God even more because of it.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Brexit: Further Analysis
After talking to more people and finding this article which added more information to the additional dimensions regarding the Brexit option, I have to offer apologies for oversimplifying the Brexit issue in my last post.
So, to my British readers, I am sorry for over-simplifying the issue. The cultural and sovereignty issues are significant, and I did not consider these in my previous post discussing Brexit.
However, the added complexity has not changed my overarching opinion, simply nuanced it more. The trade benefits that the EU offers are worth remaining the EU for, but national sovereignty must be maintained. I still think that they should remain part of the EU, but they also need to make it very clear to the EU that in the event of a disagreement between EU and British policy, the EU policy will simply be ignored. That way, they avoid having to renegotiate all of the trade agreements with the EU. They can pull the same card from their own history with the U.S., namely the "f**k you stance."
The British are in a real bind now, not completely of their own doing. The stipulations foisted upon them by the EU are probably going to force them to exit the Euro system and even that will be a long and vindictive process. This is better than tying the British train to the EU just as it goes off of the fiscal cliff. If they do decide to remain with the EU, a healthy and readily usable pool of "f**k you" needs to be at hand to tell the EU to go jump in the lake on issues of national sovereignty. At least if they are forced out by the EU, it will hopefully expedite the process, and leaving the ball in the EU's court will force the EU to do their own soul searching.
So, to my British readers, I am sorry for over-simplifying the issue. The cultural and sovereignty issues are significant, and I did not consider these in my previous post discussing Brexit.
However, the added complexity has not changed my overarching opinion, simply nuanced it more. The trade benefits that the EU offers are worth remaining the EU for, but national sovereignty must be maintained. I still think that they should remain part of the EU, but they also need to make it very clear to the EU that in the event of a disagreement between EU and British policy, the EU policy will simply be ignored. That way, they avoid having to renegotiate all of the trade agreements with the EU. They can pull the same card from their own history with the U.S., namely the "f**k you stance."
The British are in a real bind now, not completely of their own doing. The stipulations foisted upon them by the EU are probably going to force them to exit the Euro system and even that will be a long and vindictive process. This is better than tying the British train to the EU just as it goes off of the fiscal cliff. If they do decide to remain with the EU, a healthy and readily usable pool of "f**k you" needs to be at hand to tell the EU to go jump in the lake on issues of national sovereignty. At least if they are forced out by the EU, it will hopefully expedite the process, and leaving the ball in the EU's court will force the EU to do their own soul searching.
Monday, March 21, 2016
The Naked Emperor
I found an article in The Atlantic that details very intimately the events and circumstances surrounding the Syrian "red line," and Obama's blunder in not fulfilling his word and other foreign policy events of his presidency.
I suppose I should be fair and say that most of Obama's foreign policy has been prudent, and I agree with his assessment that a lot of the world has been "free riding" on America's willingness to intervene. However, the Syrian "red line" event completely obliterated any path for me to assess his foreign policy as "successful."
It's like Hillary Clinton said here, "If you say you’re going to strike, you have to strike. There’s no choice." If he wanted to pull this 'put it before Congress' trick, he should have asked Congress BEFORE laying down a red line. You cannot lay down a red line and not enforce it if you want to be taken seriously.
Obama, with this one act, did incalculable damage to his and America's credibility abroad. By the time Obama "found himself recoiling from the idea of an attack unsanctioned by international law or by Congress," it was already too late to be feckless. He had his opportunity to exhibit prudence prior to his "red line" speech and blew it by laying the red line.
Obama will be remembered as the emperor who bluffed; and when Assad called his bluff, everyone saw that he had no pants on.
Read it on their website first. I am keeping the article below for backup in case this link goes bad in 20 years.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
I suppose I should be fair and say that most of Obama's foreign policy has been prudent, and I agree with his assessment that a lot of the world has been "free riding" on America's willingness to intervene. However, the Syrian "red line" event completely obliterated any path for me to assess his foreign policy as "successful."
It's like Hillary Clinton said here, "If you say you’re going to strike, you have to strike. There’s no choice." If he wanted to pull this 'put it before Congress' trick, he should have asked Congress BEFORE laying down a red line. You cannot lay down a red line and not enforce it if you want to be taken seriously.
Obama, with this one act, did incalculable damage to his and America's credibility abroad. By the time Obama "found himself recoiling from the idea of an attack unsanctioned by international law or by Congress," it was already too late to be feckless. He had his opportunity to exhibit prudence prior to his "red line" speech and blew it by laying the red line.
Obama will be remembered as the emperor who bluffed; and when Assad called his bluff, everyone saw that he had no pants on.
Read it on their website first. I am keeping the article below for backup in case this link goes bad in 20 years.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Israel and Salary Caps
I've suggested exactly this idea before, so I will be most interested to see how it works out in Israel: capping salaries at a given percentage of the lowest paid person in the company.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/.premium-1.709326
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/.premium-1.709326
Friday, February 26, 2016
Being a Delta Rat
So, I was coding earlier today when I received an email from Doug Casey's International Man, which I reservedly follow. He is good at describing the problems. The title of the email was "Top Five Reasons Not to Vote."
The problem is political myopia induced by the enforcement of party lines and overarching political philosophies, which push out divergent, independent thought.
The problem is political myopia induced by the enforcement of party lines and overarching political philosophies, which push out divergent, independent thought.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Fiat Currency: A Nation's Store of Wealth
Fiat currencies are a curiosity that has arisen in the last 40-50 years that has existed as a secretive matter-of-fact. It is like the benign secret that all of the folks who created it felt was scandalous, when in reality it is a non-issue. There are no new problems that are introduced by a fiat currency, simply new forms of the same old problems. Problems with fiscal prudence, honest dealing, and straightforward politics are the same issues that existed before fiat currencies, but the crooked powers that be now have new ways to steal from people that they did not have available to them before.
For a brief review, fiat currencies are imaginary money issued by a government that backs up the industrious efforts of its people. The intrinsic value backing a fiat currency is not dictated by the government, it is derived from the faith of the governed (and many times others not governed) who choose to use it.
There is another property of fiat currencies that I have been chewing on for some time that is slowly crystallizing for me. Fiat currencies represent a store of wealth, in the form of faith and the wealth that follows it, that a country can use in lieu of debt or taxation as source of working capital. The mechanism by which a country can use this capital is via the printing press, or really today by a central bank mainframe server into which more zeroes are simply appended to the end of a long-type value in a database somewhere. It is literally as simple as making 1,000,000 into 1,000,000,000,000.
However, the ease of this creation of money should not be confused as a creation of wealth for the consequences of this action are severe if not carefully managed. First, the government doesn't create wealth. It never has, and it never will. People create wealth and the government monetizes and uses a portion of that wealth to accomplish its tasks. If the government prints too freely, above the wealth creation of the people of the country, then the value of the fiat currency will drop accordingly, thus lowering the relative value of the currency with respect to other nations' floating currencies. If it is printed vastly beyond the wealth creation of the people, then you enter into hyper-inflationary territory, such as happened many times in the past in places like Wiemar Germany in the 1920s , Hungary in the 1940s, Argentina in the 1980s, Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and Zimbabwe in the 2000s. And despite the Federal Reserve's incompetence in the past, I am glad that they are mostly allowing our currency to float upward in relative value, despite the trade penalties that are paid as a result.
The fiat currency as a store of wealth can be accessed, much like a
bank
account for a nation state, to withdraw working capital from in times of need. It is a
good thing to let your currency float upwards and accrue wealth to store
up for times of need. So, despite all of the negative press that our
strong currency is getting, I want to ensure that this message gets
out. A strong currency is not a bad thing. In fact, I would argue
strongly that it is a very positive thing, especially for countries who
can produce everything they need themselves, especially food and fuel, since those are the two limitations that harm countries who have to import or export large quantities of to survive. This is a stark contrasting view from Trump who views currency devaluation as a "smart" thing to do. Sure, it is smart until you need to print money to actually mitigate an existential economic crisis. If you devalue your currency during stable times, you invite hyper-inflation in the event of a real crisis.
However, this is not to say that the U.S. is on good footing. As some of the economists that I follow have said, "The U.S. is the least ugly girl at the dance." We are still ugly, but less so than most other nations in the world. Since all fiat currencies are ultimately imaginary, it is difficult to measure it's true intrinsic value. However, if one considers gold, a metal that possesses every property necessary to be used as a substitute for money, you can get a feel for the value of the U.S. dollar against something more permanent. And although the dollar value of gold has been declining over the past 5 years, it took place before the significant rise in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, meaning that the dollar was accruing real value in 2013, while the 2015 exchange rate change is merely a worsening of every one else in the DXY currency basket.
This chart is especially significant since many other nations were buying up gold in copious quantities in 2013, most notably Russia and China, so a drop in the price of gold in the face of extreme demand accentuates the potency of this point.
Ultimately, though, the increase in the value of the dollar means that you, dear reader, get a stealth raise as your U.S. dollar-denominated salaries and bank accounts buy more than they did in 2012, although I am sure you already noted this at the gas pump. I, for one, hope that the Federal Reserve stays out of the way and allows the U.S. dollar to continue to accrue value, as I expect will happen given all of the various crises around the world. The U.S. is seen as a financial safe haven, despite all of our very serious fiscal and debt problems.
For a brief review, fiat currencies are imaginary money issued by a government that backs up the industrious efforts of its people. The intrinsic value backing a fiat currency is not dictated by the government, it is derived from the faith of the governed (and many times others not governed) who choose to use it.
There is another property of fiat currencies that I have been chewing on for some time that is slowly crystallizing for me. Fiat currencies represent a store of wealth, in the form of faith and the wealth that follows it, that a country can use in lieu of debt or taxation as source of working capital. The mechanism by which a country can use this capital is via the printing press, or really today by a central bank mainframe server into which more zeroes are simply appended to the end of a long-type value in a database somewhere. It is literally as simple as making 1,000,000 into 1,000,000,000,000.
However, the ease of this creation of money should not be confused as a creation of wealth for the consequences of this action are severe if not carefully managed. First, the government doesn't create wealth. It never has, and it never will. People create wealth and the government monetizes and uses a portion of that wealth to accomplish its tasks. If the government prints too freely, above the wealth creation of the people of the country, then the value of the fiat currency will drop accordingly, thus lowering the relative value of the currency with respect to other nations' floating currencies. If it is printed vastly beyond the wealth creation of the people, then you enter into hyper-inflationary territory, such as happened many times in the past in places like Wiemar Germany in the 1920s , Hungary in the 1940s, Argentina in the 1980s, Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and Zimbabwe in the 2000s. And despite the Federal Reserve's incompetence in the past, I am glad that they are mostly allowing our currency to float upward in relative value, despite the trade penalties that are paid as a result.
 |
| U.S. Dollar Index over the past 5 years. |
However, this is not to say that the U.S. is on good footing. As some of the economists that I follow have said, "The U.S. is the least ugly girl at the dance." We are still ugly, but less so than most other nations in the world. Since all fiat currencies are ultimately imaginary, it is difficult to measure it's true intrinsic value. However, if one considers gold, a metal that possesses every property necessary to be used as a substitute for money, you can get a feel for the value of the U.S. dollar against something more permanent. And although the dollar value of gold has been declining over the past 5 years, it took place before the significant rise in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, meaning that the dollar was accruing real value in 2013, while the 2015 exchange rate change is merely a worsening of every one else in the DXY currency basket.
 |
| Gold Price in U.S. dollars over 5 years. |
Ultimately, though, the increase in the value of the dollar means that you, dear reader, get a stealth raise as your U.S. dollar-denominated salaries and bank accounts buy more than they did in 2012, although I am sure you already noted this at the gas pump. I, for one, hope that the Federal Reserve stays out of the way and allows the U.S. dollar to continue to accrue value, as I expect will happen given all of the various crises around the world. The U.S. is seen as a financial safe haven, despite all of our very serious fiscal and debt problems.
Friday, January 22, 2016
A Compact Guide to Biblical Values
This is the most direct, compact, and insightful image I have seen in a long time. It is well worth saving here:
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Police Brutality in America
This is the kind of shit that is happening right now in America. Police are killing and raping people with no repercussions. This kind of behavior is abominable and deplorable and shows how sick our society is today.
Don't be part of this sickness.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/19/sexual-violence-the-brutality-that-police-chiefs-ignore.html
Don't be part of this sickness.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/19/sexual-violence-the-brutality-that-police-chiefs-ignore.html
Peruse News Around the World: Oddities of Today
So, I was perusing the world news today when two article titles caught my attention. Both are absurd, just in different directions.
First, apparently Kim Jong Un and his North Korean crazies have managed to produce "hangover-less" booze. To my knowledge, this is not possible, but it would certainly put North Korea on the economic map if they actually succeeded. It might even rescue them from destitution assuming they could get trade sanctions lifted, lol.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/18/north-korea-invents-hangover-free-alcohol
http://fortune.com/2016/01/20/north-korea-hangover-free-alcohol/
The next article is more political correct nonsense... "Whiteness History Month".
Look... I appreciate that you are trying to be fair and whatever, but seriously... quit with the PC insanity. I don't like Black History Month or Asian History Month or White History Month... just stop. This kind of absurdity only breeds contempt and hate.
We are all human beings. We all eat, sleep, and poop; so get over it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/01/20/why-one-oregon-college-is-planning-a-whiteness-history-month/
First, apparently Kim Jong Un and his North Korean crazies have managed to produce "hangover-less" booze. To my knowledge, this is not possible, but it would certainly put North Korea on the economic map if they actually succeeded. It might even rescue them from destitution assuming they could get trade sanctions lifted, lol.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/18/north-korea-invents-hangover-free-alcohol
http://fortune.com/2016/01/20/north-korea-hangover-free-alcohol/
The next article is more political correct nonsense... "Whiteness History Month".
Look... I appreciate that you are trying to be fair and whatever, but seriously... quit with the PC insanity. I don't like Black History Month or Asian History Month or White History Month... just stop. This kind of absurdity only breeds contempt and hate.
We are all human beings. We all eat, sleep, and poop; so get over it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/01/20/why-one-oregon-college-is-planning-a-whiteness-history-month/
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Age of Aging
I received a new article from Patrick Cox of Mauldin Economics regarding the 2015 advancements in anti-aging technology that is slowly blossoming.
This article covers two primary drugs that have been around for a while but were never tested for the specific purpose of slowing down cellular aging. These two drugs alone have the pontential -- at least based on current testing already completed -- to increase human lifespans by 10-15%. It would be curious to do a statistical study of people who have taken the drug metformin for diabetes and see if they possess any measurable differences in cellular degeneration.
And I am sure that these drugs are only the vanguard of what may materialize as science advances to testing and marketing. By some estimates, I am slated to live to 120 healthfully and 150 to 180 before I die. That is curious to consider and something that I will keep chewing on.
There are plenty of dismal things that I have read and always keep in mind, but I want to share interesting or hopeful things also.
The article is here, or I have a copy of it transcribed below. The online copy has all of the charts and images though, so hit that up first.
This article covers two primary drugs that have been around for a while but were never tested for the specific purpose of slowing down cellular aging. These two drugs alone have the pontential -- at least based on current testing already completed -- to increase human lifespans by 10-15%. It would be curious to do a statistical study of people who have taken the drug metformin for diabetes and see if they possess any measurable differences in cellular degeneration.
And I am sure that these drugs are only the vanguard of what may materialize as science advances to testing and marketing. By some estimates, I am slated to live to 120 healthfully and 150 to 180 before I die. That is curious to consider and something that I will keep chewing on.
There are plenty of dismal things that I have read and always keep in mind, but I want to share interesting or hopeful things also.
The article is here, or I have a copy of it transcribed below. The online copy has all of the charts and images though, so hit that up first.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Distant Worlds: Universe
I am writing a brief review of this game because it is on sale now for a reasonable price of 30USD.
I bought it for 60USD, because I am a strategy buff and a game developer, but for most players it is not worth it at 60. However, for 30, I would recommend it to anyone who casually enjoys strategy games.
The most interesting features of this game are the economic complexity, chiefly in breaking it down to specific materials, which adds a lot of management potential. Fortunately, the Codeforce guys saw this and created a full spectrum, scalable AI to manage parts of the game for you. If you wanted to you can put your empire on full AI and watch the game play itself, but usually I manage the research, colonization, diplomacy, and war parts.
It is this scalable AI idea that was my main takeaway from this game, as a developer, and one that we will be seeking to emulate in our game.
Either way, well worth checking out if you like strategy games.
It is on sale until January 10, 2016.
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/515/details/Distant.Worlds.-.Universe
I bought it for 60USD, because I am a strategy buff and a game developer, but for most players it is not worth it at 60. However, for 30, I would recommend it to anyone who casually enjoys strategy games.
The most interesting features of this game are the economic complexity, chiefly in breaking it down to specific materials, which adds a lot of management potential. Fortunately, the Codeforce guys saw this and created a full spectrum, scalable AI to manage parts of the game for you. If you wanted to you can put your empire on full AI and watch the game play itself, but usually I manage the research, colonization, diplomacy, and war parts.
It is this scalable AI idea that was my main takeaway from this game, as a developer, and one that we will be seeking to emulate in our game.
Either way, well worth checking out if you like strategy games.
It is on sale until January 10, 2016.
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/515/details/Distant.Worlds.-.Universe
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