The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Current Affairs ... Food / Drink ...

In 1991 I was in my second year as a development officer with New Community Corporation in Newark, a non-profit community development agency. NCC had already started a number of small business ventures meant to create jobs for the low-income people of Newark, and maybe even leave NCC with a small profit to help start more businesses or build new housing or family centers. That was the theory, anyway; none of its businesses even returned a profit and almost all of them were closed by 2009. However, in the early 90s there was much hope in the air for NCC’s entrepreneurial outreach. It was going to be the next big wave in NCC’s efforts to lead the way to Newark’s revival.

As part of NCC’s entrepreneurial spirit, the leader and founder, Monsignor William Linder, immersed himself in the nitty-gritty of small business management. Aside from going to seminars and talking with vendors and business operators and bankers, he read as much as he could about the topic. His reading list included Inc. magazine, a business publication focusing on the little guys. Being new at the time, I was still one of his “trusted few” (he appreciated unquestioning loyalty, something I couldn’t do for long). So he would pass on some of his readings, including an occasional issue of Inc. This included the August, 1990 issue, which had as its cover feature a story about Rick Duhe and his failed attempt to make it as a soda-pop magnate, based on the spicy cola drink that he thought up. It was called Cajun Cola and it caught the attention of many newspaper writers and TV reporters around 1987 or so, as the next big thing; but it didn’t do well on the supermarket aisles and thus went the way of various other next-big-things that weren’t. (Interestingly, NCC’s business ventures would eventually go the same route, despite much initial media acclaim for Linder’s “social entrepreneurship”).

I read the article about Mr. Duhe and his adventure in soda capitalism and I was moved by it. It was well written and reflected the human / emotional side of what Mr. Duhe went through in thinking Cajun Cola up, in struggling to get it financed, produced and distributed, in receiving high praise from the food and culture critics, only to finally see his new-born business sink into a pit of debt and bankruptcy due to lack of sales. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:19 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, January 15, 2011

◊ Moonshadow, moonshadow

Photo ...

Just an imperfect attempt at sharing what I see . . . on a cold January night, outside my living room window. Basically, just some snow and some tree moonshadows on the driveway.

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:56 am Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

◊ And About Korea . . .

Foreign Relations/World Affairs ...

In my last post, I had a quick aside about Korea, as to whether it can avoid another war. I pondered that question some more, and I conclude, with much trepidation, that there is not going to be another big battle between the north and south. However, that does NOT mean that things are going to be just peachy for the USA with regard to North Korea.

Here’s my geo-political theory du jour. North Korea is essentially China’s puppet, part of China’s plan to weaken the USA’s global strength while keeping it alive as a market for China’s growing factories and trade networks. China cannot afford to take blustery swipes against America and its world dominance, like the old Soviet Union did. But China does want to see that dominance shrunken over time.

North Korea’s unending threats to our interests in Asia certainly are a drag on America’s military and economic posture. This will create an economic, technological, military and doctrinal vacuum in the East, as the USA grows more distracted and weaker. That vacuum will spread throughout the world. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:39 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

◊ A Canadian Viewpoint

Current Affairs ... Society ...

I’ve expressed my opinion in this blog as to where things in the USA seem to be headed; generally I think they’re heading south. I appreciate the fact that the USA is a great nation simply because people like me can express their political sentiments without fear of reprisal. There are still so many wonderful things about America. But increasingly, things seem to be going wrong. I had much more hope for America’s future back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, especially when the Vietnam war finally came to an end. But since then we’ve gone through a wide variety of crisis situations (e.g., energy shortages, terrorism, financial collapse, and once again, political assassination), and although things got better every time, the healing never seemed complete. It seems as though changes and problems are coming at us quicker and quicker every year, and are starting to overwhelm our national resolve. America once seemed to have unlimited resolve, but I’m not so sure about that anymore.

But that’s just me. I thought it might be interesting to consider another viewpoint, from a fellow who grew up in Canada. Back in 1984, in his early middle age (after completing med school and becoming a doctor), he moved to the USA and started a family here. Why? Here are some of his thoughts:

At the time, Canada’s economy was weaker and the country appeared to be on a socialist tack. Weather was a big factor also; I don’t like 5 months of winter, and the practice climate for MD’s was deteriorating. Ironically, this was about the time the US economy began to develop the imbalances that today have reached unsustainable proportions. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:05 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

◊ My Abraham Lincoln Moment

History ... Society ...

I had lived in the Washington DC metro area from 1976 thru 1978, but I left to come back to New Jersey as to go to law school (and wound up staying). One of the last things that I did before leaving in late 1978 was to visit the Lincoln Memorial. When you actually live in or around Washington, you don’t make a big effort to visit all the usual tourist attractions; you figure there is plenty of time to get to them. I would drop in on one of the Smithsonians now and then, and I recall having a nice afternoon at the National Archives. But I hardly went out of my way to see the great monuments up close. They’d be there anytime, right?

As I was getting ready to leave, I decided that I should pay a visit to Honest Abe. I picked a late-morning weekday in the fall, when there would hardly be any tourists around. I wanted to have my “moment” with Mr. Lincoln. I wanted to feel the power of his presence, to stand in awe of his great achievement in saving the nation and setting African Americans on the path to freedom, and then losing his own life to a fanatic. I figured that would take at least 20 minutes if not the better part of an hour at his Memorial down at the far end of the reflecting pool on the Mall. So I climbed the steps that day and walked past the columns, stepping into the temple chamber. I approached the super-sized “portrait in stone” of the 16th President of the United States, the awe circuits in my brain tingling and ready to go. It was about to be me and Old Abe, contemplating the ages together.

Well, not quite. Turns out that I wasn’t alone, and that my companion at the site wasn’t there for awe-struck contemplation. An elderly African-American fellow » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:16 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, January 2, 2011

◊ THE HERBAL LIFE

Personal Reflections ...

To start the New Year, I came up with another metaphor for my life. Or this metaphor came to me, one way or another. So what’s the metaphor? Well, my life is like a seasoning, an herb or spice. The basic idea here is to look at life and community as a feast. Just who is eating this feast? Well, I guess that we all are, in living our lives and having our many experiences. We are all at the table, and our lives are all on the plates, all mixed up together on a social basis . . . like a big soup or stew or whatnot. Got all that so far?

So, what food roles can an individual play in this big “feast of life”? Well, you can be a main course, a slab of meat (or preferably beans or tofu, given that I am a vegetarian) or a slice of apple pie. If you are a main dish, then you are in tune with life. You are noticed, you are part of the main event.

Or you can be a side dish or a sauce. You don’t get as much acclaim as the main dish, but you still have your big moments. You might also be a glass of wine or coffee. Again, you have your moment of brilliance. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:02 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Friday, December 31, 2010

◊ Last One for 2010: Why E8 ?

Brain / Mind ... Philosophy ... Science ...

I had an afterthought to my last post, about the E8 geometric-mathematical model as a possible matrix for the “complete theory of everything”. I noted that the authors seemed a bit paradoxical in citing what a confounding mess the current particle physics model was, versus their attitude that the E8 structure would make them feel all warm and fuzzy. My point was, why is E8 so good that they would lay down all their questions and just accept it as the final answer. Why couldn’t they at least ask the child-like question, “why E8?”.

In pondering that, I suppose that E8 has a certain beauty to it. Here is a link, if you want to see it. It looks like a bunch of points and lines arranged in circles, with some other intervening but repeating relationships that determine just where each thing stands. So yes, there is a certain artistic quality to it. Perhaps after many decades of relentless search, the physical theorist would be content to just say, I’ve found E8, the true blueprint to the world. It is beautiful, and I uncovered it. I have fulfilled my destiny.

But that still doesn’t satisfy the metaphysical sojourner in me. E8 is great, but why? Because it is beautiful, is that why? And what does it mean to be ‘beautiful’? Just what is it in us that sees the beautiful? The science people are telling us today that in our conscious experience of the world, we are not anything special. Human consciousness (and animal consciousness, if it exists) is just a function of all those forces and particles that E8 would explain. It’s just another one of the trillions of effects and emergences from the fundamental forces, just like neutron stars and pecan shells and Justin Beiber CDs are. And yet, without it, E8 has no beauty. Without a consciousness to perceive the beauty of E8 and all that emerges from it, does it all really exist? Are we sure that in E8, we have found “THE TRULY FUNDAMENTAL” in the Universe?? Or does the reason cited for thinking that thought point to something more?

Something to ponder for the New Year. And a Happy and Prosperous 2011 to All. And to All in this Beautiful Universe (E8 or not), a Good Night.

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:46 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Monday, December 27, 2010

◊ Final Answer to the Final Question?

Science ...

I recently read an article in Scientific American about particle physics (A Geometric Theory of Everything by Garrett Lisi and James Owen Weatherall). I’ve been vaguely aware of the “Standard Particle Model” for a few years now, and how it was a big scientific advance back in the 1970’s and 80’s. But I really didn’t know much about it.

This article helped to bring me up to speed. The big thing about the SPM is that is shows a lot of interesting relationships between the many different elementary particles that scientists have detected in their particle colliders over the past 50 years, including the standard atomic components electron, proton and neutron, the well-known photon which makes up light and magnetic attraction, and the spooky “anti-particles” that propel the Starship Enterprise (on Star Trek). There are plenty more particles than those, and the new CERN super-collider in Switzerland will soon find even more.

The Standard Model has shown its power by successfully predicting what the particle colliders will find. But there are still plenty of problems and gaps with it. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:07 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

◊ Catching Up On Flash Mobs

Current Affairs ... Society ...

Sometimes I just don’t notice what is going on in the world. I just found out about “flash mobs”, thanks to my friend Mary S. She sent me a link to a popular “flash event” that took place in a mall food court in Toronto, whereby a group of kids distributed around the food court did a rendition of Handel’s Messiah. I took a look afterwords on Wikipedia, only to find out that the flash mob idea has been around since 2004.

So let me get this straight. A group of people are organized and rehearse some dancing or singing or acting event, and then show up unexpectedly in a public area (on a street, in a park, at a mall, at a subway station, etc.) and do their thing for a few minutes. Members of the public who just happened to be milling about the area are surprised and often stop and watch, maybe even cheer or get involved somehow. But the most important thing is that someone is there recording all of this with a video camera. Because the critical thing about flash mobs is that they will be memorialized on You Tube or some other internet video platform, as to get thousands or maybe millions of viewings.

Maybe I’m just too old to appreciate all of this. It sounds a little silly to me » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:03 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, December 18, 2010

◊ Atheism and Religion, Twidlee Dee and Twidlee Dum

Religion ...

There’s a nice little post on the Psychology Today site about why atheism can’t replace religion. The author makes a good case that atheism cannot slake a certain thirst within the deepest corners of the human psyche. Well, the atheist will probably claim that there are no such deep corners of the human psyche thirsting for ultimate meaning; or if there are, it’s just an incidental side-effect from the survival value gained from our ability to spot trends and patterns.

Personally, I agree that atheism will never replace religion, but for another reason: atheism is just another faith system. It works well for certain people, but for the masses, it does not meet the needs that religion meets any better (however unenlightened those needs might be), and thus isn’t worth the time and energy needed to make the intellectual change.

My question, however, is whether something totally different would do a better job in improving our society and our lives. What I propose is a form of agnosticism, but not just any old agnosticism. I embrace a form of hopeful and engaged agnosticism, an agnosticism that cares even as it admits to the possibility of ultimate emptiness.

I’ll have more to say on that in the future!

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:30 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

TOP PAGE - LATEST BLOG POSTS
« PREVIOUS PAGE -- NEXT PAGE (OLDER POSTS) »