Urban Street Car Fad

Motivation

Since I live myself in a major metropolitan area, Phoenix, AZ, I was immediately attracted to a new policy research paper published by the Cato Institute (Policy Analysis no. 699, 6/14/2012). Yes, indeed numerous US cities have succumbed to this fad (e.g. Jersey City, NJ).

The Great Streetcar Conspiracy

That is the title of the new Cato paper authored by Randal O’Toole. Streetcars encompasses light rail systems.

Here are some excerpts (emphasis added):

·         “Streetcars are the latest urban planning fad, stimulated partly by the Obama administration's preference for funding transportation projects that promote "livability" (meaning living without automobiles) rather than mobility or cost-effective transportation.”

·         “The real push for streetcars comes from engineering firms that stand to earn millions of dollars planning, designing, and building streetcar lines.”

·         “... the city [Portland, Oregon] also gave developers hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure subsidies, tax breaks, and other incentives to build in the streetcar corridor.”

·         “Streetcars cost roughly twice as much to operate, per vehicle mile, as buses. They also cost far more to build and maintain.”

·         “In fact, a typical bus has more seats than a streetcar, and a bus route can move up to five times as many people per hour, in greater comfort, than a streetcar line. Numerous private bus operators provide successful upscale bus service in both urban and intercity settings.”

·         “Based on 19th-century technology, the streetcar has no place in American cities today except when it functions as part of a completely self-supporting tourist line.”

I think, the last bullet point sums it up quite nicely. Buses or even taxis are much better means of transportation, cheaper, much more flexible and so on. Streetcars are jobs for public sector unions.

Repeal And Replace ObamaCare With What?

To Demand Repeal And Replace Is Not Enough

With today’s decision the rallying cry becomes louder. The Statue of Liberty is inconsolably weeping.

Now, the Republicans and moderate/conservative Democrats have to come together to develop an alternative proposal promoting freedom of choice and free markets.

The presumed Republican Presidential Candidate now has to work much harder to present an alternative to the American people.

Some Guiding Principles For Health Care Reform

• Get rid of employer-sponsored health care!
• Introduce individual health care insurance purchased voluntarily from free enterprises in free markets!
• Increase price transparency in the health care market!
• If not avoidable make health care expenses tax deductible for everyone, not only for companies!
• Phase out Medicare!
• Get government out of the way!

Chief Justice Roberts Ruined His Legacy Today

A 5-4 Decision With A Swing Vote
From The Chief Justice

The Statue of Liberty is weeping again as the US further marches on the road to serfdom.

What was Chief Roberts thinking? Was he trying to avoid the appearance of a so called activist court? Why was he agreeing to this stinking compromise?

Extremely Flawed Reasoning

I thought he was smarter! Chief Justice Roberts cannot distinguish a penalty from a tax? This is a bad joke at our expense. So if the president and the Congress in the future mandate anything that citizens or companies have to comply with, all they have to do is to attach a penalty tax? To argue that a mandate to buy health insurance falls under the taxing power of the U.S. Constitution is ludicrous.

Given the fact that this law is full of unconstitutional mandates, he had every reason to vote against it. There is the “guaranteed issue” mandate and the “community rating” mandate besides the individual mandate. The former two severely interfere with the freedom of contract as well. Not to mention that these two mandates have quasi the effect to nationalize private health insurance companies.

Infamous As Plessy Vs. Ferguson

Today's decision will go down in history as one of the worst decisions ever made by the US Supreme Court.

In case, the reader is unfamiliar with Plessy vs. Ferguson decision of 1896: It upheld racial segregation and coined the infamous phrase “separate but equal”.

Or is today’s decision worse than Wickard v. Filburn (a 1942 New Deal monstrosity that opened up the Commerce Clause for plenty of abuse)? This may well be the case.

Stare Decisis – A Bad Precedent Was Created

I remember well how eloquent Chief Justice Roberts answered questions during his confirmation hearings about stare decisis. Now he created a bad one. It took almost 60 years to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson. How long will it take the SCOTUS this time?

What Would A Reputable Judge Do?

Resign immediately! If he does not resign, one can only pray this was his only and worst slippage and from here on he will be a better Chief Justice.

Obtaining A Drivers License (USA Vs. Germany)

What A Drudgery In Germany

In Germany, I was always somewhat appalled by the high cost and the many-hours of tedious training and the excruciating tests to obtain a license. The total costs of obtaining a driver’s license are reported to be Euro 1,700 or higher.

Deutsche Gründlichkeit (German propensity to exacting requirements) at its worst!

Sure enough, most adolescent Germans pass this demanding test every year, however it is reported that about 30% fail the tests. But why does it have to be that way?

Walk In The Park In The USA

In the US it is totally different. No stress! Fast and cheap! I took me about 12 hours of driving lessons. None of these hours were legally required, but I was trying to be prepared. I did not have much prior experience driving a car. The formal driving test consisted of about 30 or so multiple choice questions entered on a touch-screen. Fairly easy and convenient. My practical driving test was less than 15 minutes long. The entire driving test was conducted on a parking lot of a shopping mall on Sunrise Boulevard in Philadelphia. Even when I made a serious mistake failing to stop at a stop sign, while demonstrating my driving skills on the parking lot, the gentleman sitting next to me smiled kindly and I passed. The whole driver’s license only cost me a few bucks. What a joyful day!

Lessons Learnt

What’s the lesson? In the US, you learn driving by doing it and from experience. Formal or rigorous tests are not considered superior. Every driver, young or old, is expected to drive responsibly and with care towards others. A driver’s license is a privilege and you are expected to treat it as such. I do not know of any traffic accident statistics or other statistics that would lend support that either the German way or the American way is better. You guess which way I prefer.

A CIA Contractor In Pakistan

A Former Green Beret In Action

Hope, Mr. Raymond Davis will one day publish a book about his adventure in Pakistan. It was reported that the 36 year-old former Green Beret, who shot two armed Pakistani in self defense, was finally released by a Pakistani court in mid March 2011 after a compensation of about $2.4 million was paid to the surviving relatives.

The Official Version Of The Story

The official US version of the story goes like this: “The two men approached Mr. Davis's car at a busy intersection in Lahore and wielded guns. Mr. Davis shot them dead from inside the car and later took photographs before fleeing the scene. Police arrested him in his car moments later. A second car from the U.S. consulate in Lahore knocked over and killed a bystander as it tried to rescue Mr. Davis.”

To be sure, Mr. Davis acted fast from behind car windows and took even pictures as he fled. Quite remarkable. This was better than a Hollywood movie.

The Practice Of Blood Money

There are a number of fascinating aspects about this story such as: The lust of Pakistani mob to hang this American. What was this contractor doing in Pakistan? What kind of diplomatic immunity was he enjoying? Apparently, the Pakistani legal system allows for “blood money” to be paid to victim’s relatives if charges against a murderer are dropped. There was even a second car from the US Consulate involved.

The Democratic Party’s Spoils System

Why Was The Democratic Party Able
To Dominate The US Congress For Over 40 Years?

The following Wall Street Journal article, I highly recommend to read may shed some light on this question. It appeared on the Opinion Page of the US Edition on 6/23/12.

Headline: “The Soul of the Democratic Party Machine” (Subscription required)

Author: Jay Cost

Blame It On Franklin D. Roosevelt And His New Deal

Excerpts from the article:

·         “The federal government long had a relatively modest “spoils system”, but the New Deal took matters to an entirely new level.”

·         “… FDR imported [Tammany Hall] political methodology to Washington, D.C. His New Deal used federal regulatory power and money … to build a permanent Democratic majority”

·         “The president made sure that … urban machines got enormous sums for patronage jobs and programs, …”

·         “[FDR] created a variety of special privileges including monopolistic bargaining rights for organized labor.”

I only wish the article went into more details, but Mr. Cost also published a book regarding the spoils system.

Ageless Lessons From David And Goliath

Posted: 6/26/2012

I am sure there are thousands of interpretations of this 3,000 year old biblical story. May I add mine:

Major Lessons

To me it is absolutely amazing to discover how the Jewish people about 3,000 years ago were able to pack so much eternal wisdom in one well told short story.

The lessons are:

1. Nobody is invincible
2. Brain beats brawn
3. A teenager can win against a as far superior perceived adult
4. With faith in God there is nothing to fear but God
5. Confidence in your abilities can overcome tremendous challenges
6. A shepherd, shield bearer, and harpist can beat a professional warrior
7. Light armor can beat heavy armor (the history of warfare is full of such lessons)
8. King Saul was a tall man himself and his armor was no less formidable, but he did not want to fight Goliath
9. The Quran describes this story too (I did not know this for a very long time)
10. This agreement of a fight between two persons instead of a battle between armies might be one of the earliest recorded attempts of a binding treaty to settle an international dispute.

Does this not sound like God’s Providence. I think, it does. I wish, I had learned all this in my secular public high school in Germany, but I didn’t.

Tax Exemption For David And His Family

When I studied economics, I did not learn that the Bible has a number of pertinent examples of tax incidence, distortion and evasion. Modern economics textbooks are secular and void of them.

King Saul promised three things to whoever defeated Goliath:

·         Great wealth

·         His daughter in marriage

·         To exempt his family from taxes in Israel

Was an exemption from taxation for the victor and his family such a reward even about 3,000 years ago? Thus, taxation was known to be a burden even back then and the mighty and powerful knew about it.

King Solomon is said to have been the wisest of all kings. However, his wisdom ironically failed him concerning taxation. Within his kingdom, King Solomon placed heavy taxation on the people, who became bitter.

Does not the Bible also describe one of the first known tax revolts with major consequences, i.e. Solomon’s kingdom split into two kingdoms following the death of King Solomon, because his successor and son Rehoboam ignoring his advisors raised taxes further. The Bible quotes Rehoboam as saying "Whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, so shall I add tenfold thereto.” (1 Kings 22:11). What a fool! A divided empire and an almost two decades long lasting civil war is what he got instead.

Germany: A Regional Court Criminalizes Circumcision Of Boys

In Brief

The regional court of cologne (second lowest state court, Landgericht Köln) rendered that circumcision of a boy is a criminal offense (gefährlicher Körperverletzung), i.e. a grievous bodily harm was inflicted. The lower court had decided against the prosecutor, because it was a traditional, religious custom and because the Muslim parents had agreed to this procedure.

Jesus Was Circumcised

The Gospel of Luke states in verse 2:21 that Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth. Moses was supposedly born without a foreskin.

Need To Be Overturned On Appeal

The condemnation of this verdict was swift, e.g. by the German Jewish organization. This was an insensible intervention into freedom of religion. For a highly educated German judge less than 70 years after World War II ended and Holocaust to come up with such a verdict is stunning.

I hope, this judge will think about this for a long time and hopefully this verdict will be successfully appealed.

Germany’s Obsession With Jeremy Rifkin

An Interview With Rifkin

Featured By The German Foreign Ministry

On 6/22/2012, I received in my e-mail the weekly edition of “The Week In Germany”. This is an e-mail newsletter published by the German Federal Ministry headed by the hapless liberal democratic Guido Westerwelle.

The headline for this interview was “Germany is clearly ahead”.

Rifkin Is Full Of Praise For Germany

Of course, for the wrong reasons. In a separate blog, I have critiqued this gentleman and his Third Industrial Revolution. In my frank opinion, Mr. Rifkin is more like a modern charlatan.

In his first answer, Mr. Rifkin proudly tells the world that he discussed his Third Industrial Revolution with German Chancellor Merkel. How much was Chancellor Merkel actually influenced by him?

Why Is Germany Ahead According To Rifkin

Here is his outline of the future from this interview: “… We should stop any further investment in the old infrastructure, and instead develop a new one. … Fit out public and private buildings with combined heat and power units and solar panels! Convert street lighting to energy-saving LED lamps! The cost savings can be used to fund the investments. …Why shouldn’t German companies also be leaders in developing the electrical vehicles of the future?” And of course, he talked briefly about his “identified five pillars”.

Is he not a flatterer? German companies being leaders in the development of the electrical vehicles of the future?

To put it sarcastically and hyperbolically, he thinks a new infrastructure can be paid for by installing (my I add expensive) LED lamps? Who is he fooling?

President Obama And His Nutty Professor

The Private Sector Is Doing Fine, The Public Sector Is Suffering

Recently, President Obama embarrassed himself when he announced that the private sector was doing fine, but the public sector was suffering. How did he come up with this incredible statement?

They have said that the Obama Administration is unique in that there are barely any business people on board, but plenty of brainy so called intellectuals.

Meet One Of Obama’s Nutty Advisors

The Opinion page of the US Edition of the Wall Street Journal on 6/22/2012, published a third of a page article titled “Republicans Are Blocking Obama’s Jobs Plan”  written by Jeffrey Liebman, public policy professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Liebman is also “a senior economic policy advisor to the Obama campaign. From 2009 to 2010 he was executive associate director and Chief Economist and then acting deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.”. He has a PhD in economics from Harvard.

When it comes to economics, Professor Liebman has it completely backwards just like President Obama. He and the President are missing the point as if living in an ivory tower or in a bubble void of any understanding of basic economics.

Here are some selected quotes from Professor Liebman’s article (emphasis added):

·         “One of the largest drags on our economy has been the layoffs of public employment like teachers, firefighters and police officers”

·         “ … over the past 27 months, state and local government employment has fallen by 450,000 jobs …”

·         Professor Liebman summarizes a study by three economists as “that in a single year of teaching a great teacher raises the lifetime earnings of her students by $250,000 relative to an average teacher”

·         “There is a strong consensus about what the immediate challenges facing our economy are: first and foremost, a continued lack of demand …”

Obama Believes The Economy Depends On Teachers, Firefighters, And Police Offers

Until I read Professor Liebman’s opinion piece, I had no idea how essential unionized teachers in public schools, or firefighters, or police officers were for the well being of a free market economy. Of these three public sector professions listed only police officers are actually a genuine government function that also serves a free market economy. The other two, i.e. public schools and fire fighting, could easily be privatized and it would be cheaper to the public.

Is it not possible that this severe recession has finally opened our eyes as to how bloated the public sector was? Yes, I think so.

Would college tuitions be lower if professors like Mr. Liebman would be working in the private sector? Yes, I think so.

Thank you Wall Street Journal for exposing the peculiar thought processes of the inner circle of the Obama Administration. Thank you for not blocking access to the full article.

The Flawed Ideology Of Sustainable Development

Karl Marx Lives On

Karl Marx wrote “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” in 1875.

In November 1987, the United Nations adopted resolution 42/187 titled “Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development” stating “… Believing that sustainable development, which implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, should become a central guiding principle of the United Nations, Governments and private institutions, organizations and enterprises …”. This definition was also stated in the so called Brundlandt Report of the same year.

I think the similarity between these two statements is striking. Both express a desire unfulfillable without a totalitarian, big government. Both are clearly utopian and reek of paternalism. Both are based on unsustainable and wrong premises. Both are born out of hubris or the pretense of knowledge (see Friedrich Hayek).

What A Misguided Principle

To pretend to know the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is preposterous and wrought with controversy.

To meet the needs of the present generations without compromising those of future generations is an extreme or radical command as typically uttered by fanatics.

Maurice Strong Behind Sustainable Development

A man with a colorful biography. A former businessman with a collectivist or socialist mindset. A long time mastermind of international environmental politics. He was also a member of the so called Brundtland Commission (formally known as UN World Commission on Environment and Development). As an advisor to the UN Secretary General and Special UN Envoy to North Korea (of all places), he is implicated in the infamous UN Oil For Food scandal as having personally received a check of $1 million from a North Korean lobbyist issued by a Jordanian Bank, but the money came from Saddam Hussein. Here is a link to an interview conducted in 2008 with this gentleman by the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368007369524679.html

A few selected quotes taken from two public speeches, i.e. his opening statement (6/3/1992) and closing statement (6/14/1992) to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to highlight his warped thinking (emphasis added):

·         “… The wasteful and destructive lifestyles of the rich cannot be maintained at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of the poor, and of nature. …”

·         “…and an economic system that takes no account of ecological costs or damage - one which views unfettered growth as progress. We have been the most successful species ever; we are now a species out of control. …”

·         “Agenda 21 measures for eradication of poverty and the economic enfranchisement of the poor provide the basis for a new world-wide war on poverty. Indeed, I urge you to adopt the eradication of poverty as a priority objective for the world community as we move into the 21st century.”(I have written a separate blog about this nonsense of eradication of poverty or war on poverty)

·         “We reinstate in our lives the ethic of love and respect for the Earth which traditional peoples have retained as central to their value systems. This must be accompanied by a revitalization of the values common to all of our principal religious and philosophical traditions.”

·         “The New World Order, Mr. President, must unite us all in a global partnership which, of course, has to respect national sovereignty as a basic tenet, but must also recognize the transcending sovereignty of nature, of our only one Earth.”

·         “We must bring our species under control, for our own survival, for that of all life on our precious planet.”

How did a lunatic or fanatic like this become such an influential player for decades at the UN?

Just An Extension Of The Club Of Rome

I suspect that the flawed ideology of sustainable growth is just a successor or extension of the work of the Club of Rome.

In the early 1970s, the Club of Rome published its seminal study titled “Limits to Growth”. This study has been thoroughly discredited. Its underlying computer model projections into the distant future were deterministic, mechanistic and based on obviously simplistic assumptions. In fact, the assumptions were deliberately chosen to produce the desired doomsday effect, i.e. exponential growth vs. linear resources development, which by sheer virtue of its assumptions are unsustainable. Thus, it has been a nice fallacy (petitio principii or begging the question?) to fool people. Human ingenuity and the power of free markets to deal with almost any major issues were omitted. This study is also one of the origins of the peak oil hoax. This study is not much more than scientifically dressed up doomsday speculation.

Imperative Of Poverty Eradication Is Utopian And Totalitarian

Proponents

In March 1993, the United Nations adopted a resolution (47/196) titled “Observance of an international day for the eradication of poverty”. This is an utopian goal. Poverty is not like a disease.

Poverty Like Love Defy Definition

Poverty is a relative and dynamic concept. There is no absolute or static poverty. Poverty is in the eye of the beholder. Poverty like love will not vanish.

Who defines poverty? What is poverty? Who enforces eradication of poverty? How is it enforced?

Do people classified as being poor perceive that they are poor? Are poor people unhappy? Do poor people remain poor all their life?

Thus, only totalitarian or big government advocates can come up with a goal like eradication of poverty.

Individual Freedom Combined With Personal Responsibility Humanize And Reduce Poverty

In any given society of free individuals there will probably always be some form of poverty, but the distribution of income and wealth will be more dynamic in terms of time and individuals and more equitable as compared to authoritarian regimes. Over the course of history, the track record of poverty under authoritarian regimes is much worse than of societies of free individuals.

Free and responsible individuals will always help people in poverty, because poverty can afflict anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Enormously Expanded Balance Sheet Of The European Central Bank

Sometimes pictures say more than a 1,000 words.

The chart below shows the weekly total assets of the consolidated balance sheet measured in billions of Euro of the European Central Bank from its inception until June 15, 2012.

ECB Assets Almost Tripled

Since Beginning Of Financial Crisis

At the beginning of 2007, total assets of the ECB were at about Euro billion 1.200. About August of 2007, the financial crisis began to unfold.

ECB Balance Sheet Is Almost The Size

Of Germany’s Economy

Contrast this with the nominal GDP of the European Union, Germany, or France. Their nominal GDP measured in billion US dollar in 2011 was a rounded 17,600 for the entire EU, 3,600 for Germany, and 2,800 for France.

Thus, the fast expansion of the balance sheet of the European Central Bank is gigantic and whether this expansion can be reversed without inflation or other negative effects remains to be seen. The ECB is not alone, the Fed’s balance sheet has expanded in a similar way.

The Dilemma Of Performance Enhancing Drugs

Athletes & Students

The long struggle to ban and detect performance-enhancing drugs in athletes is well known. A large number of top athletes from many different countries in all kinds of disciplines have been implicated, punished, or disqualified. Olympic gold medals had to be returned. It’s a cat and mouse game.

In recent times, students were reported to take performance enhancing drugs to increase their odds to pass examinations, or to enhance their memory or concentration etc.

Is Human History Any Guidance

History is full of examples where performance enhancing drugs were involved: Soldiers since ancient times were given or have taken drugs so they lose fear or feel no pain; many artists experimented with all kinds of drugs to explore visions, emotions, perceptions etc.; shamans, or medicine men have taken drugs to have better visions or make better predictions etc. I am sure, there many more examples.

Why Do We Object?

Why do we object so strongly to such drugs? Because they provide an unfair advantage; or we want sports to be an ideal contest between pure humans, clean and untainted; are we concerned about the health of those who take the drugs; or are we concerned that young people would ruin their health etc.

Acceptance In Our Daily Lifes

But do we not widely accept coffee which could also be seen as a performance enhancing drug. Do we not accept cosmetic surgery as a means to make our body look better? Do we accept laser surgery for our eyes sometimes in the hope we will have better than 20/20 vision or better visual acuity than with glasses? What about drugs to counter so called erectile dysfunction? Do men really only take this drug because they are incapable of erection?

External Vs. Internal Performance Enhancement

Do we not accept that every so often equipment or clothing of athletes become better due to advances in technology and material science? So if material things outside the body of an athlete improve they are usually approved, however we take a very different position when an athlete seeks to enhance his own body or mind even though every athlete can choose for him/herself to do the same.

What about modern prosthesis? In particular, cheetah prosthetic legs? Will there be a runner with such prosthesis at the upcoming London Olympic Games in 2012?

The Human Quest For Self Improvement

I would posit that the human quest for self-improvement is unstoppable. Competing athletes will try anything they can to win, this is part of the competition. If I do not take it, the other guy will.

If there was a drug out there that, e.g., improves memory and when taken properly was not a risk to someone’s health, why should we not take this drug. Or how about a drug that improves eyesight or physical endurance? This same argument could be extended to other drugs.

I would further posit that the advances of medicine and biology will soon deliver more drugs that can enhance our performance in much more targeted or specific ways. It is quite conceivable that in the not so distant future performance enhancing drugs will become part of everyday life.

The human-computer interface is already around the corner. How about brain interfaces with the computing cloud? Well, that is enormous performance enhancing without drugs.

What remains: Teenagers or young adults may require permits or prohibitions like alcohol. Medical guidance should probably be required for adolescents and recommended for adults.

This is a Brave New World!

Exoplanets: We Are Not Alone?

Posted: 6/17/2012 Updated: 7/2/2016, 7/24/2015, 4/12/2015, 4/9/2015, 2/28/2015, 10/17/2014

Update Of 7/2/2016

Just read Excitement Builds for the Possibility of Life on Enceladus Scientists tackle the question of how to search for life on Saturn’s sixth-largest moon

To cite:

“NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, currently orbiting Saturn, has made intriguing observations of icy jets spewing from a suspected underground liquid ocean … Enceladus has over 90 geysers that spew plumes of salty water vapor, organic compounds and ice particles from the underground ocean into the air. ”

Update 7/24/2015

This week we received news like this Earth's Closest Cousin Discovered Among New Pile of Planets Called Kepler 452b, the world is a bit bigger than Earth and could have a surface suitable for water and life. We read here: “Called Kepler 452b, the planet orbits a 6 billion-year-old sunlike star about 1,400 light-years away. Kepler 452b is about 60 percent larger than Earth, and perhaps five times as massive. With a year lasting 385 days, it sits in the region around its star where temperatures are just right for maintaining liquid water on a world’s surface. … A new haul of 500 planet candidates announced Thursday brings Kepler’s total catalog of possible planets to 4,696. Twelve of those are smaller than two Earth-widths, and nine orbit stars that are similar in size and temperature to the sun. More than 1,000 Kepler planets have been confirmed—and that’s just in one tiny piece of sky.”

Update 4/12/15

Just watched this very recommendable PBS Nova documentary “Alien Planets Revealed”.

Update (3)

Just read “Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System”.

I quote from the above article: “This discovery, made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), reveals that the protoplanetary disk surrounding the million-year-old star MWC 480 is brimming with methyl cyanide (CH3CN), a complex carbon-based molecule. Both this molecule and its simpler cousin hydrogen cyanide (HCN) were found in the cold outer reaches of the star's newly formed disk, in a region that astronomers believe is analogous to our own Kuiper Belt - the realm of icy planetesimals and comets beyond Neptune.” (emphasis added)

Update (2)

Just read the abstract of “Untangling dips and pulses in starlight” (Unfortunately, you have to sign in to read even the abstract. What a stupidity!)

So I quote here freely from the above abstract:

“The menagerie of known exoplanets continues to grow with Kepler data. The NASA spacecraft has monitored stars for brightness dips due to planetary transits, enabling Campante et al. to find five rocky planets orbiting the K star Kepler-444—all between Mercury and Venus in size. Kepler's precise photometry also allowed the team to measure the star's asteroseismic pulsations. A comparison of those values with stellar evolution models revealed an age of 11.2 ± 1.0 billion years, or 80% as old as the universe itself. A planetary system this old (over twice the age of Earth) demonstrates the wide time frame in which Earth-sized planets have existed and helps astronomers discern the earliest times of planet formation.”

An Update

Recently, I came across this article in the Neue Zuericher Zeitung titled “Potenzial von Exoplaneten untersucht” (German language) published on 9/19/2013.

This article focuses on so called habitable zones and its lifetime. Habitable zones are defined as the distance from the star that allows for human like life or where water is liquid. I am afraid this is an artificially narrow focus, because life on other planets may be quite different from our own. To assume that life on other planets in the universe is similar to our own is heroic.

Encouraging Recent Developments

Exoplanet stands for extrasolar planet. Almost 800 of them have been identified by now (June 2012). In our Milky Way Galaxy alone, there are an estimated 160 billion exoplanets. The first confirmed detection of several terrestrial-mass planets occurred in 1992. Given these mind boggling numbers, how unique is planet earth?

May I Speculate About Extraterrestrial Life

I usually do not speculate, but I will make an exception here. Extra terrestrial life was something very remote to me to think about, but the confirmed discovery of exoplanets changes my cognition.

Some kind of extraterrestrial life will likely be discovered in space, it is only a matter of time. Probably, these forms of life are maybe quite different from life on earth.

Most likely there is even intelligent life out there. If so, how will we be able to communicate with these beings? I bet we will find a way. Perhaps, they are already trying to communicate with us, but we are yet too primitive to understand. How advanced are they? Are they peaceful? What do they know about us? Have they already visited us?

Extraterrestrial Life And Faith

Do these intelligent beings believe in something like religion or do they have some kind of faith? If yes, do they believe in something like god? If yes, what are the similarities or differences? Would Christians accept these beings as children of god or being made in the image of god? Was Jesus the only son of god? Will religious differences rather divide or unite us?

In the meantime (10/17/2014), astronomer David Weintraub has written a book about this subject titled “Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal with It?” (See a review here). According to the review, the astronomer argues among other things that Asian religions like Buddhism can easier accommodate the existence of extraterrestial life and that e.g. Judaism is kind of neutral.

Traffic Rules Apply To Everyone: San Francisco Prosecutes Bicyclist For Manslaughter

Reckless And Dangerous

According to the Wall Street Journal (6/16/12, p. A3, US Edition), city prosecutors are going to file a felony vehicular manslaughter charge against a bicyclist who allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian after he ran a red light. Why in previous, similar cases prosecutors tended to file only misdemeanor charges is beyond comprehension.

Wake Up Call

It’s about time that prosecutors take it more seriously when bicyclists run red lights and or hit pedestrians. Sure most accidents probably result in minor injuries to the pedestrian. However, as with the broken window policy, if you let too many bicyclists (who are hard to catch anyway) get way with a slap on the wrist …

No Surprise Here

Coming originally from Germany, I have observed for decades how many bicyclists in inner city areas frequently violate traffic rules, drive aggressively, and harass pedestrians. Such bicyclists are also a menace to car drivers, because they act so unpredictably. Too many of these bicyclists were acting in arrogance and self-righteousness.

I have been an avid bike rider myself for many years in Germany.

Downtown Munich – Pedestrians In Danger From Bicyclists

Last time I visited Munich a few years ago, I was several times nearly hit by bicyclists while walking about beautiful downtown Munich, because these bicyclists drive everywhere, they do not evade you and they do not bother to signal or otherwise warn you. It is also quite an experience as a pedestrian when all of a sudden a high speed bicyclist out of nowhere passes by you just inches away. You wonder what would have happened had you made a wrong move.

Separation Of Bicyclists, Pedestrians, And Car Drivers

It is my current belief that pedestrians, bicyclists, and car drivers should be carefully separated. Such a separation would avoid most of the many conflicts we face today in inner cities. E.g. bike lanes along streets is not a good solution. Analogous, the German solution of having bike lanes on e.g. sidewalks is not very good either.

It might be conceivable to reserve certain streets only for bicyclists, while other roads are for cars only. In big cities this would be feasible to some extent, if there are enough bicyclists.

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, you still find many horse riders. Are they allowed to ride on streets or sidewalks? I believe not. But the city of Phoenix allows horse riders in many city parks and there is even an Arizona Horse Lover’s Park in northern Phoenix. I am not trying to say, this is a solution for bicyclists but it is worth thinking about.

I have to admit that I am not very familiar with the situation of bicyclists, e.g., in the Netherlands or Oregon.