The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Thursday, August 21, 2014

◊ Ferguson: Tactics, Technology, Bias Against Poverty

Current Affairs ... Public Policy ... Technology ...

I’m going to weigh in with some comments on the Ferguson, MO situation and the difficult national issues that it touches upon. Before I offer my own thoughts, I would like to summarize a few articles by a few pundits who I feel offered some very cogent observations about the tragic events that have transpired over the past 2 weeks.

Charles Blow in the NY Times states that

discussion about issues in the black community too often revolves around a false choice: systemic racial bias or poor personal choices. In fact, these factors are interwoven like the fingers of clasped hands. People make choices within the context of their circumstances and those circumstances are affected — sometimes severely — by bias . . . These biases do material damage as well as help breed a sense of disenfranchisement and despair, which in turn can have a depressive effect on aspiration and motivation. This all feeds back on itself . . . If we want to truly address the root of the unrest in Ferguson, we have to ask ourselves how we can break this cycle.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar says that the ultimate problem is more a matter of bias and class presumptions against those living in poverty.

This fist-shaking of everyone’s racial agenda distracts America from the larger issue that the targets of police overreaction are based less on skin color and more on an even worse Ebola-level affliction: being poor. Of course, to many in America, being a person of color » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 6:49 am Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, August 17, 2014

◊ Bitcoin and Digital Liberty

Current Affairs ... Economics/Business ... Society ...

This will be one of those “off the top of my head” entries. The thing up there on top right now: Bitcoins. So here are a few random bits on Bitcoin.

I had an “ah ha!!!” moment the other day; I finally “get” what Bitcoin is really all about. I was reading a magazine article about big data and the NSA and how there’s really no privacy anymore. Big government and big business can know just about anything they want to know about us, given how closely we are tracked and how our data is “warehoused” forever. Now that we are living digitally, now that everything we do economically and legally happens via a credit card or some other individual account on a computer network (e.g. employer records, medical insurance, mortgage and other loan accounts, Social Security and Medicare, tax payments, criminal records, banking and investment accounts, motor vehicle records, the list goes on and on) . . . then layer in all the personal communications via e-mail and social networks . . . all it takes are a few interconnections between a handful of database systems to paint a detailed picture of who we are: what we do, what we eat, how our health is, how many accidents we’ve had, how much liquor we drink, what are assets and debts are, who our friends and enemies are, what we care about, where we are likely to be next Sunday morning, what our political beliefs are, where our loved ones live . . .

So far the NSA has made the most aggressive use of these interconnections to look for the bad guys. And so long as the NSA answers to a constitutional government that » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 6:41 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Friday, August 15, 2014

◊ Soen’s Mu

Art & Entertainment ... Photo ... Zen ...

I was leading the “kinhin” walking meditation line this past Sunday at my local zendo, and my mind was pretty much on auto-pilot. I’ve led kinhin a good number of times before, and I can mostly do it now in my sleep. Actually, I hadn’t gotten enough sleep for the past 3 or 4 nights, so I wasn’t all that far from sleep. I wasn’t thinking about much, but I wasn’t “in the moment” either (such as the Zen teachers keep babbling on about). Just keeping count on how many circles we had made and how many we had left; 3, 2, 1, back into the sitting hall.

When you have your mind in neutral like that, however, you never know when something previously unnoticed will suddenly capture your attention, just because of the random, chaotic “churning of attention” that goes on in the brain. I was walking towards the wall, leading the group into a turn, when my eyes quickly focused on the brush painting on the wall. Specifically, a brush calligraphy character representing the famous Zen-word “mu”. The painting was by the late but well known Soen Nakagawa, a Rinzai roshi from Japan who made frequent visits to the USA during the 50s, 60s and 70s, as Zen was takiing root in America amidst the Beats and then the Hippie and New Age cultures of the 60’s and 70’s.

Soen was known for being an eccentric but well-loved Zen teacher. Amidst his typical Japanese Zen students he supposedly was just another tough “Rinzai bastard”. But with Americans, he reportedly showed a lighter, more » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:29 am Read Comments (3) / Leave a Comment

Monday, August 11, 2014

◊ Odd People and Panhandlers

Personal Reflections ... Society ...

I was walking thru Newark on the way to the Broad St. train station after work the other day. I usually drive to work, but when the weather is nice I occasionally take the train even though it involves a one-mile walk each way. Just as I reached the stairway going up to the station platform, I could see someone about a block away, someone that I instantly recognized. No, it wasn’t anyone I knew. But I knew the type — an “odd street person”. Something a bit disheveled about this person, walking with an odd gait, hair disheveled, clothes a little funny, perhaps wearing a jacket or a thick sweater on a hot August afternoon. Usually these people are harmless, although once in a while they can make things very unpleasant when they suffer from mental dysfunctions and aren’t being properly treated. Interestingly, the person that I saw was not the only odd person I would encounter that day. More on that in a moment.

“Odd street people” aren’t always subject to a formal mental health diagnosis. Many indeed are, but some are just . . . well, just odd. You might call them “misfits”. People who just never made it, never held good jobs, never married or otherwise had stable relationships. Maybe their bodies were always a bit funny or slightly misformed. Maybe they were from broken homes, weren’t socialized all that well, and dropped out of school — but weren’t strong enough to enter the world of crime. Each one probably has her or his own story.

I’ve seen a lot of them over the years. When I was younger » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 10:27 am Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Friday, August 8, 2014

◊ Whats So Great About “The Moment” ?

Zen ...

I’ve been sitting for meditation with a Zen sangha in the White Plum lineage for a little over 4 years now, and in that time I’ve listened to quite a few talks by various teachers about “the Zen way” (they usually don’t use that expression, but that’s what it amounts to). One important aspect of the Zen-life (you might even call it a philosophy, although they don’t) is “living in the moment”. The Buddha allegedly said that “the secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

A recent article found on a British news site says that “emphasis on the present moment is perhaps Zen’s most distinctive characteristic”. And that Sounds groovy, despite the fact that the Buddha may not have really said that the present moment is so great.

As I’ve said before, I am something of a Zen critic despite my loyal participation at zazen every week. I love to meditate, but I’ve come to conclude that “the present moment” is over-rated. To be honest, I believe that modern Zen teachers’ fixation on “the moment” represents another example of » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:50 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

◊ Does Consciousness = Claustrum?

Brain / Mind ... Science ...

Given that I’ve done a fair bit of study and thinking about human consciousness (from both the scientific and philosophic viewpoint, intentionally excluding most of the popular mystical and metaphysical approaches to the topic), I took note of the report that a research team at George Washington University managed to switch on and off the consciousness of an epilepsy patient by using stimulatory electrode implants aimed at a structure in the brain called the claustrum.

A few years ago, noted consciousness researchers and theorists Francis Crick and Christof Koch posited that the claustrum was the place where the brain more or less weaved all of the various sensory input responses and stored information (such as memories and learned biases, fears and attractions) into a unified brain state representing the overall experience of being conscious. Their most significant empirical verification prior to the recent GWU study involved a certain type of mind-altering plant from Mexico called Salvia divinorum. The psychoactive chemical in the leaves of this plant were found to stick to a certain type of neuron receptor that is found in high concentrations in the claustrum. This distinguished it from other mind-bending hallucinogens like LSD, peyote and psilocybin, and even the basic feel-good stuff like coke and heroin.

According to unscientific reports submitted by “trippers” who used salvia, they experience » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 2:20 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, July 31, 2014

◊ Goodbye, Riverside Bar and Grill

Personal Reflections ... Photo ...

One of my brother’s favorite local hang-out places bit the dust and closed for good on Wednesday. I liked it too, even though I was more the quiet guy who mostly sat and observed while my brother did all of the talking and socializing. I pretty much kept to my beer or occasional meal (they did serve good food, even had a number of dishes quite acceptable to a vegetarian like myself). Still, the Riverside Bar and Grill in Clifton, NJ was always a comfortable place to spend an hour or two on a weekend.

Unfortunately, bar-restaurants in northern NJ come and go quite quickly, especially in a bad economy. The Riverside made a good run at it, lasting for about 9 years. But business never totally recovered from the 2008-2010 recession slump, and a falling-out between the partners a few years back basically sealed the Riversides’ fate. The marketing guy was the odd man out, and the remaining partner, Joe, made a valiant attempt to keep things going. But the losses never went away, and Joe finally had to cut his losses. I think that everyone who regularly patronized the Riverside owes Joe a big vote of gratitude for hanging in as long as he did. And Tara too, the “team captain” who made sure that the customers were treated right no matter what.

So here are a few going-away memories from the final night, Wednesday July 30.

The staff was kept busy all evening, and no one went away hungry or thirsty. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:06 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Monday, July 28, 2014

◊ On The Border . . . Crisis

Current Affairs ... Foreign Relations/World Affairs ... Public Policy ...

Unless you are a doctrinaire liberal or conservative, the unaccompanied child crisis at the Mexican border is a real quandary. On the one hand, you want to sympathize with a humanitarian crisis involving perhaps a hundred-thousand unaccompanied teens and pre-teens showing up each year at the US border seeking a better life. They are coming primarily from nations with high rates of drug trade and gang activity, and thus high rates of violence (primarily Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador).

On the other hand, perhaps the conservatives do have a point when they attribute the crisis to President Obama’s non-enforcement amnesty policies towards illegal aliens, especially illegal children. These policies were publicly announced in 2012 (certainly with political motivation – i.e., to minimize Republican inroads into the Hispanic voting block by figures such as Suzanna Martinez, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and thus preserve the large Hispanic electoral margins which Democrats increasingly depend upon). Therefore, most Hispanic populations north of Cape Horn have become aware of them. It certainly seems plausible (but not yet fully proven) that many Central Americans believe that if someone can get across the border, they will likely be allowed to stay, especially a child from one of the nations south of Mexico (who are subject to legal judicial process before being sent back, unlike Mexican children, who can be deported immediately; and interestingly, the number of unaccompanied Mexican children crossing the border has actually decreased in recent years).

An alleged USDHS report indicates that about half of the new wave of children at the border are males 13 to 17, with the balance a mix of teen females (many pregnant) and toddlers of both sexes down to 2 or less. The liberal / progressive press keeps emphasizing the terrible, violent conditions in the places where this new wave » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:29 am Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, July 26, 2014

◊ Adaptive Optics for Insensitive Men

Personal Reflections ... Society ...

I’m not always the most politically correct guy on the block, admittedly. I don’t go around calling people names, and I do generally believe in the principal of human equality. But I don’t instantly buy into every particular complaint regarding prejudice, injury or unfair treatment to alleged victims who are gay, female, persons of color, or members of a certain religious heritage. (E.g. I didn’t automatically jump on the liberal bandwagon for Treyvon Martin; I felt that Martin’s tragic death was a rather nuanced situation, one not entirely free from prejudice, but not entirely driven by it either.)

I’m even more wary when such claims are based on the alleged “subconscious intent” of the alleged oppressor (who is usually a white male, just like me — or sometimes ALL privileged white men are cast as the “oppressor class”). I.e., that I’m a racist or anti-feminist or gay-basher or anti-Semitic without even knowing it. Human beings come in all shapes and sizes, and some humans are known to take historical wrongs and use them to drum up exaggerated or distorted tales of personal exploitation, so as to claim attention and perhaps money from their accused oppressors.

On the other hand, I will admit that I did grow up and developed my present ways of thinking under social circumstances that contained many misunderstandings and unhealthy or fearful presumptions regarding minorities, women and gays. Even though I » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:02 am Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, July 20, 2014

◊ Chaos Theory, the Edge of Genius and Madness

Brain / Mind ... Science ...

There’s an interesting article on the Nautilus web site (one of many) about how the inner electro-chemical dynamics of the brain are seen as operating on a thin boundary between stability and chaos. The science of chaotic system dynamics has identified various patterns called “strange attractors” in which a system exhibits something of a repetitive, quasi-orderly pattern while at the same time varying randomly in timing and pathway from cycle to cycle. Such a system may sometimes flip to a different pattern with a different cycle direction and space, and then flip back again to the original; but in both patterns, there appears to be an approximate center or a “strange attractor” around which the system characteristics revolve. So, you can have a one-attractor cycle, or a two-attractor cycle, or even more. And no particular cycle around an attractor is quite the same as the last one. The changes from cycle to cycle are unpredictable, but the cycle, or the meta-cycle involving multiple “attractor cores”, does have stability.

Such systems are seen to be on the ledge between either setting back into a fully-ordered and predictable path round and round some attractor point, or pushing into full-blown chaos where the attractors however strange just fall away and the system’s motions just go wild. Researchers are finding that a healthy functioning brain lives on this knife-edge. Why did nature and evolution select such an arrangement? One clue can be found in the design of high-performance aircraft, especially modern fighter jets. Once upon a time, airplanes were designed for maximum stability against changing wind currents. Pilots manually controlled the aircraft flaps, which steer the plane and also allow the plane to respond to changing winds and turbulent air flows. Recall, however, that humans can only react to things so quickly (typical human reaction times between start of perception and recognition / mental reaction are between 0.15 and 0.3 seconds; then add even more time to carry out the responsive muscle motions); our brains and bodies need processing time. So it takes a while for the hand controlling the airplane flaps to react to what the pilot sees and feels from buffeting air currents. This is not a long time; but when a jet is barreling along at 900 mph, even a few tenths of a second might be too late to put the plane back on an even keel.

So, aircraft had to be designed to be as naturally stable as possible. However, such design also made them more like battleships in the ocean, in that they took a relatively long time to change course when needed (such as when an enemy plane or missile is suddenly spotted). Thus, in modern jet fighters, the airframes are designed to » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 2:06 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

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