1. Stopping earmarks. Although always said that it is small potatoes compared to the deficit, it is not small potatoes to corruption. 2. Against Fed QE2. Although their reasoning has not always been clear, I agree that QE2 is a risky way to affect interest rates and the economy. Since Ben Bernanke thinks that...
About
Thanks for visiting my Blog.
I post on mental construction (how our brains work), stories that I write, and current events.
Robert HamillComing Climate Crisis?
Coming Climate Crisis? by Claire Parkinson. Subtitle – Consider the Past, Beware the Big Fix It’s nice to read a reasoned, solid reflection of the history of Earth’s climate and the present concerns about climate change. Parkinson has 30+ years of research in ice drifts, satellite image analysis, and the like. And she has...
Cost of Tea II
The Tea Party logic that we go from a high government cost to a low government cost overlooks the transition costs. All the social contract based on the current government structure will be affected. That contract includes current government employment, level playing field for investors, retirement plans based on social security and medicare, education,...
The Other Brain
Notes on The Other Brain by Douglas Fields, PhD Some interest factoids: Voluntary movement controlled by basal ganglia. Acetylcholine – stimulate movement Dopamine – inhibit movement Hypothalamus – regulating many automatic functions Node of Ranvier – repeater in myelin He uses phrases like p. 303 ‘neuronal firing can change genes in neurons that make...
Intuition and Reasoning
The brain can draw conclusions in two ways – logical and pattern-matching. Another way to say it is – by reasoning or by intuition. Logical/reasoning (planning situation handling), we’re all familiar with. We use facts and rules of logic to draw conclusions. This is an advanced mode of thinking that took many eons to...
Jobs Growth
Finally, we’re getting some jobs growth again. 151,000 in October. From the demographic data, we know that 60,000 are needed to absorb natural population growth. That leaves 90,000 to reduce unemployment. That’s 6 years to make up the 6 million lost in this Great Recession – at this rate.