The Parents Of Jared Loughner Had More Than A Hunch

 Parents Admitted They Were Aware 
Of Their Sons Mental Illness

To quote from a New York Times article published on 3/27/13 (emphasis added):

“The parents of Jared L. Loughner, the man who killed six people and wounded 13 others during a … event hosted by former [US] Representative Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, told the authorities after the mass shooting that they had become so concerned about their son’s strange behavior in the previous months that they had taken away his shotgun, insisted he get psychological counseling and had even begun to disable his car so that he could not go out at night … The documents, released by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department after Freedom of Information requests from news organizations, reveal the depth of the worries that Mr. Loughner’s parents had about their son’s rapidly deteriorating psychological stability.”

Other Example

The murderer of John Lennon, i.e. Mark David Chapman, confessed to his wife he was obsessed with John Lennon and he had planned to kill him. His wife did not report him.

Take Away

I don’t have the time at the moment to research this further, but I have an inkling that mentally ill persons more often than not confide to loved ones or other people close to them what they are up to. Or loved ones or close ones often sense that something terrible is going to happen.

Thus, it would be a great and long overdue idea to overcome the stigma and taboo that still surrounds mental illness in our society. As far as mental illness is concerned we are not much better off than the medieval ages. Yes, we do not subject mentally to harsh treatments anymore; yes, we do not keep mentally ill in lunatic asylums anymore; yes, we released involuntarily committed mentally ill to live among us.

However, seriously mentally ill people need treatment and care not incarceration in prison or a life as a homeless. Did the parents of Mr. Loughner have the knowledge how to provide treatment and care? If not, why?

I would also suggest that parents or other close individuals should be held liable for acts of mentally ill people, if they neglected to act. Like parents, who leave their baby to starve of food.

Democracy In Crisis

History Is Littered With Fallen Empires

The title of this blog post is intentionally patterned after the famous book “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville.

Democracy is arguably the best form of government humans have ever come up with, but democracy is by far no guarantor that such governments will not share the fate of decline by their own doing.

The Great Recession

First, the global housing crisis, then the financial sector crisis, followed by a sovereign debt crisis of overextended welfare states all have exposed the ineptitude of our elected politicians. Politicians who understand how the free market economy works are extremely rare. Most of them are as clueless as the current two-term US President Obama.

First of all, our elected politicians are responsible for all these crisis by having implemented over decades flawed policies like affordable housing for everyone; financial sector overregulation and bailout; recklessly low interest rates over long periods; a major ever expanding monetary union (EMU) at any price and by breaching key contracts; and so on.

Inherent Expansion Of Soft Despotism In Democracies

The term soft despotism is believed to be coined by Alexis de Tocqueville. Almost 200 years after his death we can note that the trajectory of soft despotism lead to the big governments we all are now so familiar with in western democracies. This unhealthy growth of paternalism is to be reversed. The sooner, the better.

Long forgotten are the ideals of the founders of America such as individual liberty and limited government.

In Tocqueville’s own words:

“It [big government] covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

Our contemporaries are constantly excited by two conflicting passions: they want to be led, and they wish to remain free. As they cannot destroy either the one or the other of these contrary propensities, they strive to satisfy them both at once. They devise a sole, tutelary, and all-powerful form of government, but elected by the people. They combine the principle of centralization and that of popular sovereignty; this gives them a respite: they console themselves for being in tutelage by the reflection that they have chosen their own guardians. Every man allows himself to be put in leading-strings, because he sees that it is not a person or a class of persons, but the people at large who hold the end of his chain.

By this system the people shake off their state of dependence just long enough to select their master and then relapse into it again. A great many persons at the present day are quite contented with this sort of compromise between administrative despotism and the sovereignty of the people; and they think they have done enough for the protection of individual freedom when they have surrendered it to the power of the nation at large.”

“Democracy, Tocqueville argued, was capable of breeding its own form of despotism, albeit of the “soft” variety. He spoke of “an immense protective power” that took all responsibility for everyone’s happiness—just so long as this power remained “sole agent and judge of it.” This power, Tocqueville projected, would “resemble parental authority” but would try to keep people “in perpetual childhood” by relieving people “from all the trouble of thinking and all the cares of living.”” (source).

Restore Limited Government

1.       Amend the constitution to limit the size of all government to less than 33% of GDP.

2.       Amend the constitution to require balanced, comprehensively defined government budgets except in times of major emergencies or war.

3.       Privatize the public sector to the maximum extent possible. No exceptions!

4.       Amend the constitution, for as long as government is responsible for monetary policy, that short-term nominal interest rates cannot be set lower than the inflation rate plus productivity growth.

Strict Term Limits For The Entire Public Sector

What is good for the diplomatic corps, i.e. the rotation of diplomats and staff every so often is good for elected politicians, police officers, judges, and bureaucrats.

Anybody involved in public service ought to be term limited no matter which branch of government, legislative, administrative, law enforcement, or judiciary. If appointed or elected or hired in the public sector you will be in public service for a limited time only. Nobody should plan on a lifelong career in public service.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Democracy of all forms of government that have been tried before has a better chance to heal itself.

Brain Scans To Predict Recidivism In Criminals

Trigger For This Blog

Today, I read a science news article titled “Brain Scans Might Predict Future Criminal Behavior”. I have previously written a blog post on mind reading capabilities.

The Future Is Near

According to this article, scientists were able to predict the propensity of criminals to “reoffend”. “The study demonstrated that inmates with relatively low anterior cingulate activity were twice as likely to reoffend than inmates with high-brain activity in this region.”

Hence, in the near future, we might be able to tell which criminal can or cannot be released earlier at a significant reduced risk of recidivism? What about sexual offenders?

Minimum Wages Ought To Be Abolished

Prevalence & Justification

As of 2007, 21 of the OECD’s 30 member countries have statutory minimum wages.

There is no convincing justification for government imposed uniform minimum wages. These justifications are widely known and they are mostly sort of pseudo justifications.

Empirical Evidence & Economics

I believe, the score has long been settled. The preponderance of empirical evidence tells us that the disadvantages clearly outweigh the benefits. This is probably one of the few subjects were a majority of economists would agree on.

Minimum wages eliminate or prevent certain jobs; opportunities for unskilled employees are lost and so on.

One easily identifiable winner of minimum wages and in particular of any raise of minimum wages are labor unions as pay scales of their members in some of their contracts are tied to the level of the minimum wage. Thus, if the minimum wage is raised, such members of labor unions will see their pay automatically rise as well across the board.

Fact is there are not many employees who for a considerable period of their lives or for their entire lives depend on earning minimum wages.

Minimum Wages Are Fundamentally Flawed

Minimum wages should be completely rejected, because:

1.       They are a government imposed form of price control

2.       They are an infringement of property rights (e.g. the owner of a business has to pay more than the owner would otherwise voluntary pay)

3.       They are a partial expropriation of business owners

4.       Business owners are singled out to pay for a government redistribution policy

5.       They represent an indirect tax on business owners in the amount of the difference between what the employer was willing to pay and the minimum wage (it does not matter that this amount is not first paid to the treasury)

6.       They are an infringement of the freedom of contract (e.g. they also prevent a willing employee from working for less)

For all these severe and fundamental flaws it is high time to get rid of minimum wages!

George Mason On Big Government

When The Federalists 

Triumphed Over The Anti Federalists

In my quest to find out more how an ever expanding big government was possible in the United States Of America and to pinpoint the historical origins of it, I went back to the Progressives era, the American Civil War and so on.

However, only recently I discovered arguments put forward by the Anti Federalists and I was surprised how they had anticipated the outcome and development of a stronger central government. It also appears to me that in present day America, the Anti Federalists have been almost forgotten or they are conveniently overlooked. Victors write history.

I think it quite possible now in hindsight that the decision to implement a stronger central government with the adoption of the new US Constitution in 1787 was a big mistake leading up to the big government we have now. The concerns and warnings of the Anti Federalists were not taken seriously.

George Mason In His Own Words

The following quote is excerpted from “Federal v. Consolidated Government” by George Mason published on 6/4/1788 (emphasis added):

“I mean that clause which gives the first hint of the General Government laying direct taxes. The assumption of this power of laying direct taxes, does of itself, entirely change the confederation of the States into one consolidated Government. This power being at discretion, unconfined, and without any kind of controul, must carry every thing before it.

The very idea of converting what was formerly a confederation, to a consolidated Government, is totally subversive of every principle which has hitherto governed us. This power is calculated to annihilate totally the State Governments.

Will the people of this great community submit to be individually taxed by two different and distinct powers? Will they suffer themselves to be doubly harrassed?

These two concurrent powers cannot exist long together; the one will destroy the other: The General Government being paramount to, and in every respect more powerful than, the State governments, the latter must give way to the former. Is it to be supposed that one National Government will suit so extensive a country, embracing so many climates, and containing inhabitants so very different in manners, habits, and customs?

It is ascertained by history, that there never was a Government, over a very extensive country, without destroying the liberties of the people: History also, supported by the opinions of the best writers, shew us, that monarchy may suit a large territory, and despotic Governments over so extensive a country; but that popular Governments can only exist in small territories. …

I solemnly declare, that no man is a greater friend to a firm Union of the American States than I am: But, Sir, if this great end can be obtained without hazarding the rights of the people, why should we recur to such dangerous principles?”

I tip my hat to George Mason!

Micro Black Holes Made In A Laboratory?

As a hobby science junkie I was absolutely stunned to read an article that scientists might be able to create such micro black holes using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. According to this article such micro black holes at lower than expected energy levels through head-on collision of particles.

This article is a bit beyond my gray matter, but it seems mind blowing.

Yoko Ono’s Bloody Gun Control Campaign

The Bloody Glasses Of Her Murdered Husband
John Lennon

Yoko Ono, now 80 years old, is still a political activist. However, her latest campaign using a picture of the bloody glasses of her murdered husband who was brutally killed in 1980 at close range in the presence of Ms. Ono near Central Park (NYC) by a deranged man with a gun is a tasteless appeal to emotions or is it just a desperate publicity stunt.

I was not aware that Ms. Ono used this photo before: “Ono turned her attention to gun violence with a series of tweets that all included the image, which she also used on the cover of her 1981 album Season of Glass.” (Rolling Stone).

Didn’t they say for a long time one of the reasons why the Beatles broke up was Yoko Ono. Perhaps, there is more truth to that than I as a Beatles fan previously thought.

The Deranged Murder Of John Lennon

Yoko Ono to blame guns for the murder of her husband is more than frivolous. If only half is true what you can read about the murderer, i.e. Mark David Chapman, on Wikipedia, then this man was deeply troubled for years. He could as well have stabbed John Lennon from whom he personally received an autograph at the scene of the murder just hours before he killed him. There was even a photograph taken of this scene of the book signing by John Lennon.

The murder even told his wife about his intention to kill John Lennon, but his wife failed to report her husband (see Wikipedia article about the murderer). So much for individual responsibility!

Yoko Ono’s Statistics Are Damned Lies

Manipulating statistics for political purposes is a widespread plague. At age 80, I expect someone to be wiser and smarter.

When Ms. Ono tweets "Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980." then this is highly disingenuous, because this number apparently includes suicides committed with a firearm (CDC suicides & homicides). You do the math.

Education Reform In The 21st Century

Imminence & Scope Of Education Reform

In the meantime, most people who follow the news and recent technological advancements have come to realize that the pressure of radical reform of how individuals at any age will educate themselves or will be educated is imminent.

For over three thousand years human education has evolved. The transfer of knowledge from great teachers was enhanced by permanent storage of knowledge, the fast and widespread dissemination of knowledge, and constant discourse about knowledge by humans.

The Status Quo Of Human Education

The education of humans has evolved to become highly structured, sequentially phased, specialized and institutionalized. The class room setting is still the most common, standard mode of teaching. There are numerous barriers to entry. Education is largely organized by tracks.

Some typical characteristics of current education of humans:

1.       Students meet in a group at a specific physical location, at a specific time to be taught by a specially trained human professional.

2.       Students have to or need to specialize in some discipline fairly early on.

3.       There are certain times during a human’s life when they are expected to have completed a certain education.

4.       The progress of a student’s education is measured sequentially or certified in some prescribed way, e.g. by examinations, grades, degrees, certifications etc.

5.       Teaching is conducted by specially trained and certified people who often do this for a lifetime

Private education has been too a large extent displaced by public education with all its negative consequences. Government in many countries has essentially nationalized education.

Tabula Rasa Approach

People, who follow my blog (if there are any such people) know that I like this approach also called Gedankenexperiment (German for thought experiment). It opens up the mind and frees up the mind from unnecessary constraints. It allows e.g. to question anything in existence.

Some examples:

1.       College education in the US has almost become prohibitively expensive no matter how much federal government tries to subsidize it. During the Great Recession it became noticeable that a fine MBA or law school degree is not necessarily advantageous, but very expensive.

2.       What is the current measurement and certification of someone’s educational attainment useful for? We know that many high school/college drop outs are among the smartest and most accomplished people on earth.

3.       What does it prove if a person who has once in his life time written a doctoral thesis for which the person then received a Ph. D.? We know that many Ph. Ds. over their entire lifetime will achieve little more than an average non Ph. D. or they may turn out not to be really qualified for what they are doing.

4.       To be a professor is often a lifelong tenure. What is really the justification for that?

This list of examples could go on.

An Exciting Hypothetical New World

In the age of the Internet and the Cloud, the availability of ubiquitous computers of various sizes and power it would be conceivable that:

1.       Each child and its parents can be educated wherever they are, whenever they wish whatever subject over the Cloud and Internet

2.       For any adult of any age anywhere in the world to learn any subject at any time at any level of depth over the Cloud and Internet.

3.       Self education by any child or individual anywhere, any subject, and anytime will be available

4.       Educational contents can be prepared and delivered by anyone, anywhere, at any time who wishes to do so

5.       A borderless global marketplace of education evolves. Such a marketplace would certainly help to reduce the price and cost of education.

What are some of the implications?

·         Many, e.g. traditional brick and mortar schools (including universities) are kind of obsolete.

·         Just imagine potentially one single educational entity could provide and deliver the educational content for any conceivable discipline for the whole world.

·         Why should not educational content from Mongolia be available to children in Paris?

Premise Of Education Reform

Too many people on this planet, especially in Western countries, are still not well educated. They do not understand well the principles and benefits of individual liberty and responsibility. They do little understand freedom of contract or free market economy.

Bread and games (panem et circenses) are still too common in our societies since before the Romans. Too many people may have resigned or are apathetic about education and its many benefits. Or do powerful, vested interests think it better that way to leave many people uneducated?

Primary Goals Of Education Reform

1.       Significantly reduce the role, control, and influence of government in education. More private than public education. Government should not be in the business of providing or delivering education.

2.       The role of government should be very limited to e.g. quality control, minimum standard curricula etc.

3.       We need more experimentation and trial and error to figure out the future of education. Government, in general, is not helpful.

4.       More personalized, individual education instead of mass education. E.g. more home schooling than public education.

5.       Less emphasis on traditional measurement and certification of educational aptitude.

6.       The traditional distinction between institutions like primary, secondary education, high school, community college, university etc. are outdated. There should be fluid educational providers of any kind.

7.       Education in a linear, sequential, and track like fashion is outdated. E.g. there ought to be more fluidity between generalization and specialization and between disciplines or subjects at any time in an individual’s life.

8.       The traditional distinction between teacher/professor and student is outdated. Potentially anybody can be a teacher and any student can be a teacher. Thus, role reversals ought to be the norm. Probably, we ought to aspire more to mutual teaching and learning at any age, mix of ages and backgrounds.

Other, Related Blog Posts By This Author

Here about high school curricula. Here, here about history as a critical subject of education.

The Relevance Of The Tragic And Untimely Death Of Niels-Henrik Abel

A One Million US Dollar Prize

The Abel Prize was just awarded to a Belgian mathematician, i.e. Pierre Deligne, working at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ (Albert Einstein was there).

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. Named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829), the award was established in 2001 by the Government of Norway. The Abel Prize has often been described as the Nobel prize of mathematics.

About Niels-Henrik Abel

There is little doubt that he was a very gifted and brilliant mathematician who died way too early at age 26 of tuberculosis. He died in poverty. He was unable to secure an appointment as a professor (source).

His work was perhaps so advanced that traditional, academic journals would not publish it. A substantial part of his works were instead published by the then new, rather unconventional journal, i.e. the Crelle’Journal (a.k.a. Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik or in English Journal for Pure and Applied Mathematics).

“In 1824 he proved the impossibility of solving algebraically the general equation of the fifth degree and published it at his own expense hoping to obtain recognition for his work” (source).

Abel said famously of Carl Friedrich Gauss's writing style, “He is like the fox, who effaces his tracks in the sand with his tail.” C. F. Gauss is said to have received a copy of one of Abel’s critical papers directly from Abel but was not impressed so Abel decided not to visit him in Göttingen.

The Moral Of Abel’s Life

1.       Progress of medicine cannot be fast enough!

1.1.    If a genius like Abel dies at a young age of a treatable disease, then the loss to humanity is tremendous.

1.2.    Therefore, it is an utmost imperative to keep big government out of and prevent the nationalization of health care like it has been happening in the USA and, e.g., in Germany. Big government is literally a killer as it stymies medical progress.

1.3.    Therefore, it is an important imperative to subject the medical profession, medical schools and health care providers to more and more intense competition. Today, the medical profession is a government sanctioned monopoly akin to medieval guilds.

2.       To nurture and support talent wherever you find it is of paramount importance

2.1.    It appears that this unknown genius from a very modest background from Norway was not recognized appropriately

2.2.    Some geniuses do not give credit to other geniuses when credit is due

3.       Today, the Internet allows anyone to publish anything at little cost

3.1.    A genius like Abel would have probably loved this opportunity

Afghanistan’s Future Is Very Promising

Trigger

The Opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal just published on 3/18/2013 an inspiring, motivating article by Saad Mohseni titled “The Untold Story of Afghan Progress” (subscription required).

Comment

I will not go into quoting extensively from this article, but the author, who is by his own description the chairman of the largest media group in Afghanistan, as myself have a very positive outlook on the near and long term prospects of Afghanistan.

I am sure this country located on the ancient Silk Road has a brighter future compared to the last three decades of internecine warfare brought about by the former Soviet Union, Taliban, Iran, Pakistan etc.

The recent discovery of vast deposits of natural resources augurs well for this country. Just think of the Mongolia.

According to the above article:

1.       There are now over eight million school children (2.6 million of them girls), there were only 900,000 in 2001 and practically no girls.

2.       The literacy rate is currently only 33%, but is predicted to grow to 60% by 2025 (I personally think, this is a considerable underestimation)

3.       Urbanization is enormously increasing, thereby lessening the dependence on tribal and sectarian links

4.       Paved highways jumped from 32 miles (no error) in 2002 to 7,450 miles today

5.       Access to electricity has tripled to 18%

6.       The economy has grown from $2 bn in 2001 to $20 bn today

7.       67% of the population or ca. 20 million people use mobile phones

8.       and the list goes on

I once saw a documentary on how some courageous Afghan people risked their lives to rescue ancient and modern cultural artifacts of the National Museum in Kabul from the intolerant and violent Taliban in a clever way. This was impressive!

My kudos to the people of Afghanistan.

Why Can We Not Buy Cars Over The Internet?

Something Is Really Wrong

In the 21^st century, we consumers are still primarily buying cars through those obnoxious car dealerships. A commodity such as a car should be easily sold over the Internet. Why is, e.g., Amazon not selling cars directly?

How It Should Be

1.       Prices are easily comparable across all brands and makes nationwide and worldwide

2.       You order the car of your dreams over the Internet with all the options you like and it is delivered the next day to your doorsteps (little exaggeration ;-)). You don’t care the least where this car is made.

3.       Car dealerships, if you still need them, are there only for kicking the tires and for test driving.

4.       Car prices would be greatly reduced if the large numbers of useless middle men called car dealers are cut out

Let Me Guess Why

I am not an expert to know every detail about how car selling is organized in the US, but I have some hunches:

1.       The lobby of car dealers is very powerful in every state

2.       The Motor Vehicle Departments or state governments gain handsomely in revenues the way the consumer car market is currently organized. Car dealers and state governments are in cahoots to the disadvantage of consumers.

3.       The powerful automotive labor unions prevent more competition and reorganization.

4.       The US government prevents effectively the importation of cars from other countries. Why can I not buy a car made in, e.g. India or Brazil if I desire to do so?

Thus, it is no surprise that the consumer car market is so fragmented, overpriced etc. Like wine, cars cannot be sold cross state border over the Internet.

Government Bailouts Revisited

Before we all forget again, as humans so easily are prone to do, that big government in the US and Europe is complicit and culpable in the cause and worsening of the Great Recession let’s quickly revisit two issues here.

Government Bailouts Of Businesses Are Nothing New

Thanks to Jason Zweig’s “The Intelligent Investors Column” (subscription required) published in the Wall Street Journal on 3/9/2013 I just learnt that the famous British Barings Bank (one of the most famous British merchant banks; which so dramatically collapsed in 1995 thanks to a ‘rogue’ trader) was bailed out by the Bank Of England in 1890, because this bank had overinvested in Argentinean bonds. The close (perhaps crony/cozy) relationship between the Barings family and the British government is another topic of interest.

May I conjecture for a moment that it was perhaps more common during the pre-industrial age that rich business men bailed out nobility and kings than the other way around.

From what little I know about history it appears that since ancient times there has been a close relationship between government and the financial sector. As they say follow the money trail and money talks. Thus, I suspect the financial sector has always been under close scrutiny and direct or indirect regulation by governments probably more so than most other sectors of the economy.

Long before the Great Depression (at least since the Great Depression), the US financial was tightly regulated and monitored by government. Those deregulatory measures passed in the 1980s or 1990s did not really undo this tight oversight by government. That is a myth.

A History Of US Government Bailouts

When you google/bing it you find it sometimes: http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts

I can somewhat recommend this website by ProPublica, although it appears incomplete.

Unfortunately, this webpage has not been updated since April 2009. As I said at the beginning, to forget is human. To move on is easy and convenient, and ignorance is bliss.

At least, the two authors of this webpage, i.e. Jesse Nankin and Krista Kjellman Schmidt, have traced back US government bailouts to 1970. They also included municipal and non-financial bailouts.

The first bank bailout in the US according to this webpage occurred in 1974: “Franklin National Bank. In the first five months of 1974 the bank lost $63.6 million. The Federal Reserve stepped in with a loan of $1.75 billion.” Prior to discovering this webpage, I was only aware of the bank bailout of 1984 of the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company, which is also listed by the authors.

The authors for some reason omitted the Amtrak story, which also started in 1971.

New Antidoping Persecutions: Six Field & Track Athletes Failed Doping Tests After Eight Years

I have previously written on the subject of doping (here, here, here, and here.

The Antidoping Zealots Never Let Up

You can read the official news release of 3/8/2013  by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) here and the New York Times article here.

To quote from the official news release (emphasis added):

“The … (IAAF) has re-tested a selection of doping samples collected at the 2005 IAAF World Championships, Helsinki, Finland, from a wide range of disciplines and nations …”

“The I.A.A.F.’s message to cheaters is increasingly clear that, with constant advancements being made in doping detection, there is no place to hide …”

To quote from the NYT article:

“The I.A.A.F. did not say what banned substances were found in the re-examination. Sports officials keep samples for a minimum of eight years. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes can be sanctioned for a violation up to eight years after they provide their urine or blood samples for a drug test. Officials store samples and later retest them for substances they may not have been able to detect at the time the sample was taken.”

Antidoping Is Unfair

According to IAAF’s official news release, this organization has only conducted “selected” retesting of a “wide range of disciplines”. Thus, who was not retested and why?

I suspect, one of the athletes was chosen to be retested because she was caught at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Further, I suspect, because of limited resources these retests are indeed very selective. Thus, lesser performing, doped athletes have to fear less to be caught, but they nevertheless compete. One day such an athlete wins if only by the disciplinary action against a better performing, but doped athlete.

In this particular case, a German athlete who finished fourth at the above mentioned 2005 World Championship in the hammer throw discipline will now receive a silver medal (see here (in German)). Was he not doped?

From what I have read these tests are not necessarily very reliable. “Advancements” are applied retroactively. The banned substances found were not listed in the IAAF’s news release. Where these substances illegal at the time?

I Am Prodoping

Why should adult humans not freely choose to dope their body for better performance or achievements? Doping is a human endeavor since ancient times. Let these adult athletes experiment so one day we may all benefit.

Without this constant antidoping campaign, it would be a level playing field for any athlete: Every athlete can choose whatever doping regiment available and suitable. The best athlete, doped or not, may win. Every athlete is free to choose a doctor to ensure his or her good health.

Doping is almost treated like a crime, which it is not.

Let The Games Begin

Why do we not have games, championships and contests for doped athletes?

EUsociality - The Highest Level Of Social Organization

Common To Ants, Bees, And Termites

I stumbled upon this term eusociality today (3/2/2013) on Wikipedia which is defined as “a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. Eusociality is characterized by cooperative brood care, overlapping adult generations and division of labor by reproductive and (partially) non-reproductive groups.”.

Just A Pure Coincidence

The EU (European Union) is some kind of sociality or is it? Given its top down, statist, centralist, and elitist approach a comparison with an ant colony is not so far from the point.

Humans To Transcend Nature

Posted: 3/2/2013

Will Humans Be Ready?

Given the exponential progress of science and technology since the inception of the computer, our world has the potential to be a very different place over the coming 50-300 years or so.

Many of the previous milestones or acmes of human civilization will pale compared to the potential, imminent transformations. Of course, lest we forget we are only standing on the shoulders of giants and other humans that came before us.

The Crystal Ball Is So Outdated

May I offer a few guesses about the future of humans:

1.       Human intelligence and memory will be genetically altered to be much higher and better (what if the average human had an IQ of Einstein and a photographic memory? But ability to read human minds vs. will our minds be encrypted?)

2.       Human health and longevity will be much better and longer (e.g. effective cures for most diseases, genetic and mental disorders; organ replacement/regrowth etc.)

3.       Human education is already undergoing dramatic changes (e.g. venerated universities will become but a chapter in history)

4.       Crime and punishment. Humans have not really gone far beyond than giving suspects and perpetrators more legal protections and defenses since ancient times. Conventional crimes at least have become much more detectable and more accurately solvable in less time. (This is a difficult one to make guesses about)

5.       Food and beverages will not be a product of agriculture anymore, but will be designed and engineered for taste and optimal nutrients etc. (this process has been ongoing at least since humans brewed their first beer)

6.       The human body will be modified to be much stronger, faster, less vulnerable to injuries etc. like no other creature of nature (e.g. how about eagle eyes and a dog’s nose?; will we still need clothing?; anti-doping is so obsolete, hail pro-doping)

7.       Women will not have to give birth anymore. Intercourse will become a thing of the past. The sexes will disappear.

8.       There will be a better substitute for euphoria, orgasm, adrenalin rushes through dangerous activities, drug induced highs etc., if we still need it. Negative addictions will be extinct or will be cured in an instant.

9.       Computers will be part of our body or there will be some kind of close symbiosis between computer and human (I readily admit this is a difficult guess)

10.   Robots will be everywhere in our lives assisting us in every imaginable way (e.g. no more chores or errands)

11.   Better energy sources will be harnessed (e.g. nuclear fusion, or hydrogen, or photosynthesis, or solar power etc.)

12.   I am sure, I am missing something J

If we are hit by a huge asteroid or engage in another world war these guesses are toast.

What About Individual Liberty?

The ever wider expansion and meddling of big government in every aspect of our lives for the past 150 years or so is a huge problem in particular in the Western world. Constitutions and democracy have not effectively prevented nor restrained nor even slowed down the growth of Leviathan. The beacon of freedom, i.e. the United States and the United Kingdom, has also embarked on this dangerous path for quite some time.

Big government with all its inherent contradictions and irrespective of ideology tends to turn human society into something like an ant colony if left unchecked. In the past it was superstition, dogmas, lack of knowledge, and illiteracy that prevented human liberty and progress, since the 19th century it is big government, which coincided with the emergence of nation states.

Given the current state of affairs, I am not very optimistic. Big government is toxic to and it suffocates individual liberty. Big government has the power to significantly impede human progress as it has amply demonstrated in the past.

In my estimation, more individual liberty and responsibility instead of bigger government will make these tremendous transformations we are potentially facing much more peaceful, beneficial, and acceptable to everyone.

Will the coming generations of human leaders reverse this trend of ever bigger government? We better hope so.

Last, But Not Least

I firmly believe, God will not mind and God is with us.

As King Solomon in Ecclesiastes is reported to have said about 900 BC, “what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” and “fear God, and keep His Commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone”! I don’t think these observations by Solomon express exclusively Judaic-Christian values, but they certainly emphasize individual liberty and responsibility as we are all children of God.

Maybe one day we living humans will truly discover the benevolence of God!

Pharaohs Built Pyramids, Senator Harry Reid Has Himself Immortalized In A Museum

Anyone who visits the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, NV will notice the Harry Reid Exhibit Hall upon entering this great museum (admission is a bit pricey though).

Why are there no term limits for US Senators and Representatives? Harry Reid would be more than sufficient reason  to introduce such an amendment to the US constitution.

There is no compelling reason to apply term limits only to US Presidents.

One Million License Plates Like This One And Obama Would Have Lost

Too bad that not more Americans drove their cars with license plates (Nobama) like this one, because then business enemy no. 1 President Obama would have lost.

Because of the American voters I have lost a $50 bet with a good friend of mine in Germany over who wins the last US presidential election.

I said it before in an earlier blog post and I say it again without Obama in the White House the US economy would have come roaring back instead of continuing to be in a slump except for the stock market.

What Not To Do With A Residential Fire Sprinkler

Does this have anything to do with living in a litigious country?

Or is this a mild paranoia?