over the past few days there have been four articles in our local newspaper about the rising sea level. the article made one argument that i found compelling. it doesn't really matter why the seas are rising or why the climate is changing. what's most important to our (humanity--the Earth will be fine. freshwater marshes will become saltwater marshes but we'll starve) short term survival is that it IS changing. there aren't any policy changes we can make in the near term that will affect climate in the next 50 years or so (at least, i wouldn't think, i'm no expert), so why are we in such a bind over green taxes and fuel efficiency and the like? right now, it just doesn't matter. at the very least, the changes underfoot now are inevitable. we've missed the tipping point in terms of talking about reversing climate change or the rising seas. those things are happening and will run their full course--we should be talking now about how we're going to adapt to those changes.
the two biggest obstacles to our finding balance with the environment is population growth/movement and the exportation of pollution. i've talked about population as a social and economic issue before in an earlier post, but (as with all human activity) there is an environmental component as well. in countries that progressed through demographic transition, the populations are relatively stable. the birth rate and the death rate (barring significant social upheaval) are equal. now, take a country like mexico that seems to be stuck in a cycle of poverty and skyrocketing birth rates. not only does the mass exodus of mexican citizens to the north ameliorate a lot of social/economic problems, but also, mexico (or any 3rd world country with population mobility) as an entity will never have to face issues of inherent carrying capacity and population stability.
our half-assed policies with regard to pollution control will simply turn pollution into a commodity. any regional policy that attempts to control pollution will simply move that polluting process to a less regulated area. i mean...that seems pretty straightforward, right? how is it possible to have a pollution control policy that isn't world-wide? how can you turn down kyoto in favor of regional pollution credits and lukewarm tax incentives?...
i've been "working" on this entry for awhile now. i think that i'll go ahead and publish it--it's never going to be perfect. *chuckle*
...to be continued.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
*chuckle*
another elijah list...
1) oftentimes, elijah will disguise the fact that he wants to bite your finger by kissing your finger 2-4 times. woe to the unwary bearer of the finger for the hunter hunts.
2) elijah still cannot tell time despite my best efforts.
3) elijah is much more amenable to my fatherly dictums if i am holding a cookie. in fact, it is required.
4) elijah has slept through a fire alarm. i find this dangerous yet admirable.
5) elijah will not apologize for taking up WAY more than his fair share of space in bed. as a matter of fact, he thinks you should be grateful for the opportunity to smell his night farts.
6) elijah will never apologize for his night farts.
7) elijah believes that if you are not vigilant then everything that follows is YOUR fault.
8) "uh-oh" covers anything and excuses everything.
9) elijah's eating habits rivals those of european aristocracy.
10) i don't think that elijah enjoys a ruckus as much as he enjoys seeing us run frantically.
*chuckle*
1) oftentimes, elijah will disguise the fact that he wants to bite your finger by kissing your finger 2-4 times. woe to the unwary bearer of the finger for the hunter hunts.
2) elijah still cannot tell time despite my best efforts.
3) elijah is much more amenable to my fatherly dictums if i am holding a cookie. in fact, it is required.
4) elijah has slept through a fire alarm. i find this dangerous yet admirable.
5) elijah will not apologize for taking up WAY more than his fair share of space in bed. as a matter of fact, he thinks you should be grateful for the opportunity to smell his night farts.
6) elijah will never apologize for his night farts.
7) elijah believes that if you are not vigilant then everything that follows is YOUR fault.
8) "uh-oh" covers anything and excuses everything.
9) elijah's eating habits rivals those of european aristocracy.
10) i don't think that elijah enjoys a ruckus as much as he enjoys seeing us run frantically.
*chuckle*
Friday, June 29, 2007
froggie
i have come to the realization that parenthood is a process of letting go. letting go of future plans that made SO MUCH sense a few months ago...letting go of anger and disappointment when things go another direction...letting go of righteousness and replacing it with a budding wisdom.
my son is growing up. i mean...of course, he's growing up. that sounds stupid to say out loud, but it's just that it's happening so fast. elijah is growing up. it's almost like trying to hold sand with a sieve. you're powerless to stop this little entity from growing and becoming, but you want so desperately to hold on to what you have now. you want so much to just slow things down so that you can enjoy the child you have before you're faced with the child to come. elijah IS growing up.
today was erin's play group day, and there are always goodies in the kitchen when she gets back and today was no exception. i crow over finding chocolate chip cookies on the counter and, unthinkingly, grab one. erin clears her throat and i look at her. she looks down. i look down to find the little guy standing there, staring at me, waiting patiently for his share of my cookie that is his by right. i look down and he says, "hi," with his hand outstretched. i can deny him nothing. he wanders off munching HIS share of my cookie in search of the elusive blue ball, and i think to myself, "where did this little fella come from?" i look at him and i see the infant that was and the child that is becoming...things move on but it has always been my experience that time did you the courtesy of moving slowly so that you forgot what once was even as you leave it behind.
months and months ago, there was once a toy named, aptly, froggie. froggie was not special, but he did make elijah laugh on long car trips. one day, erin was out with our rachel (and her maya rose) when froggie was lost to us. elijah hardly noticed but erin called me in tears. at the time, i didn't really get it. he's got plenty of toys and, hey, he didn't notice. but, it was important to erin so it was important to me.
froggie was a corporeal embodiment. froggie was elijah's infancy. froggie was just a little piece of the infant that was and preserving him was important to us...it allowed us to hold that infant close while the toddler was learning to climb kitchen cabinets and take off his diaper. :p
i miss that frog.
my son is growing up. i mean...of course, he's growing up. that sounds stupid to say out loud, but it's just that it's happening so fast. elijah is growing up. it's almost like trying to hold sand with a sieve. you're powerless to stop this little entity from growing and becoming, but you want so desperately to hold on to what you have now. you want so much to just slow things down so that you can enjoy the child you have before you're faced with the child to come. elijah IS growing up.
today was erin's play group day, and there are always goodies in the kitchen when she gets back and today was no exception. i crow over finding chocolate chip cookies on the counter and, unthinkingly, grab one. erin clears her throat and i look at her. she looks down. i look down to find the little guy standing there, staring at me, waiting patiently for his share of my cookie that is his by right. i look down and he says, "hi," with his hand outstretched. i can deny him nothing. he wanders off munching HIS share of my cookie in search of the elusive blue ball, and i think to myself, "where did this little fella come from?" i look at him and i see the infant that was and the child that is becoming...things move on but it has always been my experience that time did you the courtesy of moving slowly so that you forgot what once was even as you leave it behind.
months and months ago, there was once a toy named, aptly, froggie. froggie was not special, but he did make elijah laugh on long car trips. one day, erin was out with our rachel (and her maya rose) when froggie was lost to us. elijah hardly noticed but erin called me in tears. at the time, i didn't really get it. he's got plenty of toys and, hey, he didn't notice. but, it was important to erin so it was important to me.
froggie was a corporeal embodiment. froggie was elijah's infancy. froggie was just a little piece of the infant that was and preserving him was important to us...it allowed us to hold that infant close while the toddler was learning to climb kitchen cabinets and take off his diaper. :p
i miss that frog.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
common sense on immigration policy
we don't have a bit of it.
i can't really glean a great deal of actual information from the recent blathering about the new immigration bill. most talking heads spend all of their time whining about how bad it is without actually going into details. i don't have the energy to actually find the bill on the net to read it--i'm sure that i can predict what's in it. let's see, my guess is there is a section on dealing with the illegal aliens in the country now. prol'ly a combination of the two extreme positions in america now--some sort of slow forgiveness process with some punitive tax paying and whatnot. then an entire section about increasing the size of the border patrol, some money thrown at the fence idea...just a smorgsaborg of ideas and half-formed bits of policy. ultimately, we'll end up throwing billions of dollars at the situation and end up an unstable dynamic equilibrium that will last another 10 years or so and then we'll have the same "discussion" again.
ultimately, i believe that most folks are trying to deny the essential nature of our system here. the disparity in standard of living between our country and mexico is so large that for all intents and purposes we can regard mexico as a third world country. i don't understand how some of the smartest people in the world could look at a deal like NAFTA and NOT understand what it meant for our two economies. mexico always had a comparative advantage over us in terms of inexpensive labor, and we absolutely exacerbated the situation with NAFTA. with the passing of NAFTA, unfortunately for mexico, labor became a fungible commodity. i mean...that's all they had. a few years ago...well, the last presidential election, the huge economic issue was the outsourcing of jobs to mexico and other places, but primarily mexico. now, i think we are witnessing the logical economic progression given our relative economic positions. it only stands to reason that instead of staying in mexico and working for local wages at jobs that were originally american, those that can leave their homes and make their way north will do so.
we can talk all day long about punishing employers that utilize illegals, or expanding and modernizing guess worker programs, or expanding ICE and letting them arrest busloads of illegals and sending them home but we will NOT come one step closer to solving the immigration problem because we refuse to recognize the economic imbalance that creates the immigration pressure in the first place. *shrug* in a lot of ways, it is just as ignorant as our approach to drug policies in this country. putting addicts in jail is not solving the problem, and we just don't seem to be willing to face that. in order to create a situation where the population centers of our two countries are relatively stable, we must redress the economic imbalance between our countries.
technology transfers, infrastructure, significant financial investment in mexico...everyone benefits from a stronger, more economically independent mexico. population centers will stabilize, manufactored goods will become cheaper, soybeans will compete with poppy as a cash crop, peace and harmony will spread throughout the land. tra-la-la-la. i don't know. it seems that we need to take a step back and acknowledge the breadth and width of the problem and the accompanying breadth and width of the solution. this is something that is 10 or 15 years down the road, but i believe that the dividends are immeasurable and go far beyond the obvious economic benefits.
we'll see...
i can't really glean a great deal of actual information from the recent blathering about the new immigration bill. most talking heads spend all of their time whining about how bad it is without actually going into details. i don't have the energy to actually find the bill on the net to read it--i'm sure that i can predict what's in it. let's see, my guess is there is a section on dealing with the illegal aliens in the country now. prol'ly a combination of the two extreme positions in america now--some sort of slow forgiveness process with some punitive tax paying and whatnot. then an entire section about increasing the size of the border patrol, some money thrown at the fence idea...just a smorgsaborg of ideas and half-formed bits of policy. ultimately, we'll end up throwing billions of dollars at the situation and end up an unstable dynamic equilibrium that will last another 10 years or so and then we'll have the same "discussion" again.
ultimately, i believe that most folks are trying to deny the essential nature of our system here. the disparity in standard of living between our country and mexico is so large that for all intents and purposes we can regard mexico as a third world country. i don't understand how some of the smartest people in the world could look at a deal like NAFTA and NOT understand what it meant for our two economies. mexico always had a comparative advantage over us in terms of inexpensive labor, and we absolutely exacerbated the situation with NAFTA. with the passing of NAFTA, unfortunately for mexico, labor became a fungible commodity. i mean...that's all they had. a few years ago...well, the last presidential election, the huge economic issue was the outsourcing of jobs to mexico and other places, but primarily mexico. now, i think we are witnessing the logical economic progression given our relative economic positions. it only stands to reason that instead of staying in mexico and working for local wages at jobs that were originally american, those that can leave their homes and make their way north will do so.
we can talk all day long about punishing employers that utilize illegals, or expanding and modernizing guess worker programs, or expanding ICE and letting them arrest busloads of illegals and sending them home but we will NOT come one step closer to solving the immigration problem because we refuse to recognize the economic imbalance that creates the immigration pressure in the first place. *shrug* in a lot of ways, it is just as ignorant as our approach to drug policies in this country. putting addicts in jail is not solving the problem, and we just don't seem to be willing to face that. in order to create a situation where the population centers of our two countries are relatively stable, we must redress the economic imbalance between our countries.
technology transfers, infrastructure, significant financial investment in mexico...everyone benefits from a stronger, more economically independent mexico. population centers will stabilize, manufactored goods will become cheaper, soybeans will compete with poppy as a cash crop, peace and harmony will spread throughout the land. tra-la-la-la. i don't know. it seems that we need to take a step back and acknowledge the breadth and width of the problem and the accompanying breadth and width of the solution. this is something that is 10 or 15 years down the road, but i believe that the dividends are immeasurable and go far beyond the obvious economic benefits.
we'll see...
Friday, May 25, 2007
non sequitur
i'm going to paraphrase this next little bit because that will make it funnier and also sadder.
so, i'm watching hardball with chris matthews this evening (5/25) while 'm putting elijah down for bedtime. the topic of the day was the two new (ha) books criticizing hillary clinton. so, here goes the conversation.
rep. loudmouth1: "i don't even know why we're talking about this. there isn't anything new in either of these two books. the authors released them because h.c. is leading in the polls."
rep. loudmouth2: "i know all of that is true, but it should be a topic of discussion because she is a bad, bad person with a terrible marriage."
dem. loudmouth1: "ok, fine. that may be true, i don't know. if you want to make it about marriage though, let's do that. h.c. has been married once. the top 3 GOP candidates have 8 marriages between them. what say you to that rep. loudmouth2?"
rep. loudmouth2: "the clintons' immorality led to sept. 11."
all other loudmouths: shocked silence
it would really be nice if i was making that up, wouldn't it?
so, i'm watching hardball with chris matthews this evening (5/25) while 'm putting elijah down for bedtime. the topic of the day was the two new (ha) books criticizing hillary clinton. so, here goes the conversation.
rep. loudmouth1: "i don't even know why we're talking about this. there isn't anything new in either of these two books. the authors released them because h.c. is leading in the polls."
rep. loudmouth2: "i know all of that is true, but it should be a topic of discussion because she is a bad, bad person with a terrible marriage."
dem. loudmouth1: "ok, fine. that may be true, i don't know. if you want to make it about marriage though, let's do that. h.c. has been married once. the top 3 GOP candidates have 8 marriages between them. what say you to that rep. loudmouth2?"
rep. loudmouth2: "the clintons' immorality led to sept. 11."
all other loudmouths: shocked silence
it would really be nice if i was making that up, wouldn't it?
Monday, May 21, 2007
i've learned quite a bit about my son this week. i think in the future, i will come to love this time in our lives together. i will come to cherish it. i mean vacation time. time when i can leave work behind and just sort of stop and really invest time in enjoying what i have. my beautiful wife and child. i'm young in terms of my work career, but i really do believe that for myself i can see my wildest dreams come true in their smiles. everything i ever wanted to do, everything i ever wanted to be...just knowing that my son is flourishing and i am, in part, responsible for that.
anyway, what i've learned thus far about my son.
1) elijah's teeth are, indeed, quite sharp, and no, i cannot "take it."
2) without provocation, elijah will break your glasses while glaring defiantly and screaming, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
3) elijah cannot tell time and therefore does not care that it is just half past the butt-crack of dawn.
4) when given the choice between playing with an unbreakable plastic toy and playing with the very expensive, very breakable window coverings in the condo...you can guess the rest.
5) elijah is always positive that your glass of delicious ice cold water is better than his sippie cup. there is nothing you can do to convince him otherwise.
6) elijah will never apologize for sticking his pasta & tofu covered fingers into your glass of delicious ice cold water. in fact, he will glare defiantly at you and scream "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
7) elijah must have your straw. if you do not give it to him, there will be consequences.
8) elijah's motto has become "ask for forgiveness rather than permission."
9) i believe that elijah takes the phrase "bad baby" as praise from a wimpy liberal for "staying the course." (<- i think that phrase has become as infamous as hilary's "vast right wing conspiracy" snippet)
10) elijah believes that i should appreciate the fact that he deigns to backwash into my glass of delicious cold water. he will never apologize for this blessing.
*smile* i love being a father. i can honestly say that should i put aside all the other ambitions of my life, i would rest easy knowing that i am raising (will raise) a sweet boy who will grow into a good man.
anyway, what i've learned thus far about my son.
1) elijah's teeth are, indeed, quite sharp, and no, i cannot "take it."
2) without provocation, elijah will break your glasses while glaring defiantly and screaming, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
3) elijah cannot tell time and therefore does not care that it is just half past the butt-crack of dawn.
4) when given the choice between playing with an unbreakable plastic toy and playing with the very expensive, very breakable window coverings in the condo...you can guess the rest.
5) elijah is always positive that your glass of delicious ice cold water is better than his sippie cup. there is nothing you can do to convince him otherwise.
6) elijah will never apologize for sticking his pasta & tofu covered fingers into your glass of delicious ice cold water. in fact, he will glare defiantly at you and scream "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"
7) elijah must have your straw. if you do not give it to him, there will be consequences.
8) elijah's motto has become "ask for forgiveness rather than permission."
9) i believe that elijah takes the phrase "bad baby" as praise from a wimpy liberal for "staying the course." (<- i think that phrase has become as infamous as hilary's "vast right wing conspiracy" snippet)
10) elijah believes that i should appreciate the fact that he deigns to backwash into my glass of delicious cold water. he will never apologize for this blessing.
*smile* i love being a father. i can honestly say that should i put aside all the other ambitions of my life, i would rest easy knowing that i am raising (will raise) a sweet boy who will grow into a good man.
Friday, May 4, 2007
republican presidential candidate debates
ok, so yeah. i watched the debate the other night. *shrug* it was a lot like the democratic debate...no one really wanted to say anything that would separate them from the pack in a significant way. there was a great deal of agreeing and backslapping and whatnot. it was the first time i had the opportunity though to listen to folks like rudy guiliani (sp?) articulate some ideas. he was the only person in the debate that seemed to have a nuanced stance on abortion. there weren't really any original or even slightly interesting ideas on how to deal with iraq. most of them spent the bulk of their time saying what went wrong (like, duh) and how if they had been running things they wouldn't have done it that way (*gag*). again, not much different from what the dems had to say on iraq, but at least there were a couple of individuals who didn't mind cutting loose on their colleagues. i really got tired of the ronald reagan love fest that was unfolding on the stage. *GAG* again, i understand that they are pandering to their audience, and i didn't really expect much substance from them--but, geez. reagan this and reagan that.
one thing i found surprising was the considerable talk about flat/fair taxes. taxes based on consumption rather than an income tax. *shrug* that would put a lot mom & pop tax firms out of business...a lot of software designers would go hungry. um, i have not really read a lot about the so-called consumption tax. as a matter of theory though, i wonder about the inherent ... is unfairness the right word...of such a tax. i understand that low wage earners would take home a larger paycheck, but a larger portion of their disposable income would be taken up by the consumption tax as opposed to someone making a higher wage...perhaps someone with a higher savings rate versus their overall income and consumption rate. i mean the saving grace for low income earners now is the number of deductions they can take or simply being exempt from taxation altogether. i don't really see how you can mimic something like that at the cash register. i mean...would devise a system to pay back taxes to low wage earners on a quarterly basis? the point is if you're already living hand to mouth you are prol'ly not paying a lot in taxes and the extra you take home will not offset the extra you now have to pay the register. it won't do any good to get that money back on a quarterly basis because you are having trouble affording basic necessities NOW. i've not yet heard anyone address issues like that...i'm all for pay as you go though. i think you would have to do something like that if you switched income streams from something fairly predictable to something based on our consumption habits. i would shop a LOT less.
i'm watching fist of fury while i'm typing this, and i just have to say that bruce is a bad, bad man.
i saw three educated adult males indicate that they did not believe in evolution. it was at that point that i stopped taking any of them seriously.
ok, i actually have to work tonight, so later.
peace
one thing i found surprising was the considerable talk about flat/fair taxes. taxes based on consumption rather than an income tax. *shrug* that would put a lot mom & pop tax firms out of business...a lot of software designers would go hungry. um, i have not really read a lot about the so-called consumption tax. as a matter of theory though, i wonder about the inherent ... is unfairness the right word...of such a tax. i understand that low wage earners would take home a larger paycheck, but a larger portion of their disposable income would be taken up by the consumption tax as opposed to someone making a higher wage...perhaps someone with a higher savings rate versus their overall income and consumption rate. i mean the saving grace for low income earners now is the number of deductions they can take or simply being exempt from taxation altogether. i don't really see how you can mimic something like that at the cash register. i mean...would devise a system to pay back taxes to low wage earners on a quarterly basis? the point is if you're already living hand to mouth you are prol'ly not paying a lot in taxes and the extra you take home will not offset the extra you now have to pay the register. it won't do any good to get that money back on a quarterly basis because you are having trouble affording basic necessities NOW. i've not yet heard anyone address issues like that...i'm all for pay as you go though. i think you would have to do something like that if you switched income streams from something fairly predictable to something based on our consumption habits. i would shop a LOT less.
i'm watching fist of fury while i'm typing this, and i just have to say that bruce is a bad, bad man.
i saw three educated adult males indicate that they did not believe in evolution. it was at that point that i stopped taking any of them seriously.
ok, i actually have to work tonight, so later.
peace
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