About Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is a freelance writer and editor online and in print. He is educated as a scientist with a PhD in Atmospheric Physics. He has worked in climate science, remote sensing, throughout the computer industry, and as a college physics instructor. Find out more at About Frank Moraes.

Politics: 7 September 2010

Posted on 07 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

I read the entire Constitution of the United States today for a regular article that I’m about to write. What I found was that there are a total of 22 references of “citizen.” And pretty much without exception, these references have to do with voting: who can be president, senator, representative, and who can vote for them. I bring this up because back a while, I heard some people talking about how only citizens have rights of Habeas Corpus. This is what the Constitution says about this in Article I Section 9: “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” You see: no “citizen” there. Conservatives really like to say that the Bill of Rights is just about citizens. It isn’t. This goes back to the Declaration of Independence (and further), where Jefferson (well, actually Thomas Paine did the first draft) wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” That’s “all men” and not “all men who just happen to be born in a particular place.” (I don’t have time to get into the sexism and racism of these documents—but I will!)

You remember Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida who is planning an International Burn a Koran Day, right? Well, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, General Petraeus said that such a stunt would put American troops in danger. Conservative Christian bloggers are going nuts over this. They only like Petraeus when he just shuts up and kills people. The pastor is going to “pray on it.”

Obama is coming out swinging. This is long (almost an hour), but man oh man, am I proud to call him my President. If you have the time, watch it.

Politics: 6 September 2010

Posted on 07 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

This was a holiday: I should have taken it off.

New and many polls show that Americans by and large think the Republicans would do a better job running the country. I don’t get it. Are people just not paying attention? I’m still hopeful that the polls are meaningless. It will drive you crazy trying to follow the races when they are still two months out. Don’t be like me!

On Friday, Craigslist was forced to shut down their adult services section. This didn’t surprise me, but as Danah Boyd points out, this is only going to make matters worse. I’ll let her speak for herself:

For the last 12 years, I’ve dedicated immense amounts of time, money and energy to end violence against women and children. As a victim of violence myself, I’m deeply committed to destroying any institution or individual leveraging the sex-power matrix that results in child trafficking, nonconsensual prostitution, domestic violence and other abuses. If I believed that censoring Craigslist would achieve these goals, I’d be the first in line to watch them fall. But from the bottom of my soul and the depths of my intellect, I believe that the current efforts to censor Craigslist’s “adult services” achieves the absolute opposite. Rather than helping those who are abused, it fundamentally helps pimps, human traffickers and others who profit off of abusing others.

More NATO forces are headed to Afghanistan. Does anyone really think we’ll leave there in a year? Even in the way we’ve “left” Iraq?

Obama wants to cut more business investment taxes. Yawn! Paul Krugman put it well in a recent post:

I can understand why the people who persuaded Obama to go for the capillaries might still be claiming that they have the right strategy; but I don’t understand why Obama is still listening to them.

And finally, I found this really interesting guy on YouTube, Radio Hogan, who has put up over 250 ten-minute lectures. This one is a nice little comparison of Keynes and Friedman. What he says is right on.

Politics: 3 September 2010

Posted on 03 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

After spending $104 million, Meg Witless has mostly managed to greatly increase her negative ratings. Jerry Brown is just about ready to start up his campaign. I think we have a very good chance of winning this election. Ideology aside, I think that Whitman would be a disaster as governor.

Based upon a conversation I had with Pow Wow, he put a very good political song of his online:

He writes:

“About Time” written in September, 2008 by Wayne Poehlman is covered here by Pow Wow in the POWWOWTHEATER. This song was intended to be the theme song for Barrack O’Bama’s campaign. Unfortunately… well, you know it didn’t turn out that way. Nevertheless, as I keep hearing about Glen Beck (and I use his name here because I know how the Google algorithms work – I want his folks to hear this), that there were scores of uncounted people under the trees, while at the same time I hear… I hear an echo of Strange Fruit and can’t help wondering about those people under those trees. Here are the words to “About Time” just in case you missed any, or in case you would like to read them to your young children before bedtime:

I pray the time has come when we will never again see
Strange Fruit hanging from a tree
No more smallpox blankets or internment camps
Maybe find a way to put an end to the same old song and dance

It’s about time we do something together
It’s about time we see things for what they are
It’s about time we demonstrate we’re better
better than that better by far

From Tuskegee to the Trail of Tears history’s replete
With examples of intent to kill, yet no one is ever held to blame
I’m not so sure there is a cure, when it’s all tied to greed
But sleepy eyes are opening; this time our efforts might succeed

It’s about time we build a bridge with substance
It’s about time we create a legacy
It’s about time we see ourselves making a difference
Maybe for the first time change history

No more False-Flag maneuvers in the name of Peace
No more Extraordinary Rendition – exported Torture, if you please
The whole world is watching now, and rightfully so
Tomorrow’s headline needs to read: The Past Has Got To Go

It’s about time for a change in the weather
It’s about time we finally arrive at Eventually
It’s about time we show ourselves we’re better
better than what we used to be

Politics: 2 September 2010

Posted on 02 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

There wasn’t a lot of news that interested me today. But the death of Matthew Dieckmann slapped me in the face as I was running errands. Surely, he deserves more, but this is the best I can do at the moment:

<%image(20100902-motorcycleDeath.jpg|350|755|Matthew Dieckmann Memorial)%>

And I can’t leave without mentioning Hillary Clinton is having a manage a trois with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas. She’s some hot lady. And smart too.

Politics: 1 September 2010

Posted on 01 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

Signs of the Times

Not everything about the Glenn Beck rally was offensive. Watch this wonderful little video:

A Perfect Earl

Remember back in 1991 when the “perfect storm” hit the northeast of the United States and killed all the men aboard the Andrea Gail? At least you have to remember George Clooney playing Captain Billy Tyne in the movie. (Read Sebastian Junger’s book—it is much better.) Well, that was the second most damaging storm of that year—largely because it stayed off the coast. The big storm that year was Hurricane Bob. Right now, Hurricane Earl is swirling toward Maine and it looks to be the biggest thing since Bob back in 91. Hopefully the preparations will make a certain catastrophe as painless as possible.

Over-Population Problem Reduced

Okay. A nutjob took some hostages at Discovery Communications. He’s dead now. Why did he take the hostages? Over-population? No. He took the hostages because he was a nutjob. On the plus side, his exploit did lessen the over-population problem. A little.

El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote De La Mancha!

Posted on 01 Sep 2010 by Frank Moraes

Yesterday, I dropped into Twice Told Books in Guerneville, California—a very cool little store that just happens to be be for sale for just $25,000. This sounds like a deal to me, and if anyone wants to loan me $15,000, I think I can make a go of it. (Or if you want to buy it, you can contact Richard Lester and John Genovese at 707-303-6358.)

The proprietor of this charming store just happened to have the 22nd edition of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote De La Mancha :Coleccion Austral behind the counter and let me have it for just five bucks! Generally, Spanish language versions of Don Quixote are at least twenty dollars, which is kind of strange given that they don’t even require editors. This book, for example, doesn’t even have a perfunctory preface, foreword, or introduction. (Not that these are necessary—Cervantes provided more than enough of that.)

Chapter 4

When last I discussed Don Quixote, I was praising its wit and modernity. But things have changed. It all started in Chapter 3. Up to that point, Cervantes was very light and funny. But then things turned dark. This is not a mistake but rather a cultural difference. I’ve seen it with Francois Rabelais, people’s ideas of humor in the 16th century were much more coarse than ours. I’d like to look into this a little.

In Chapter 4, Don Quixote comes upon a farmer whipping a lad of fifteen who it would appear is nothing more than a slave laborer. The Don is appalled by this and forces the farmer to stop torturing the boy and to pay him what he is owed. The farmer claims that his money is at home and that he will take the boy there and pay him. The boy protests that this will not happen—that once the knight is out of sight, the farmer will renege on his promise.

“I go home with him!” cried the lad. “Never in the world! No, sir, I would not even think of it. For once he has me alone he’ll flay me like a St. Bartholomew.”

Don Quixote brushes these concerns aside. He believes that the farmer is a knight and is bound by honor. Having seen justice prevail, Don Quixote rides off.

As he said this, he put spurs to Rocinante and was off. The farmer watched him go, and when he saw that Don Quixote was out of the wood and out of sight, he turned to his servant, Andres.

“Come here, my son,” he said. “I want to pay you what I owe you as that righter of wrongs has commanded me.”

“Take my word for it,” replied Andres, “your Grace would do well to observe the command of that good knight—may he live a thousand years; for as he is valorous and a righteous judge, if you don’t pay me then, by Roque, he will come back and do just what he said!”

And I will give you my word as well,” said the farmer; “but seeing that I am so fond of you, I wish to increase the debt, that I may owe you all the more.” And with this he seized the lad’s arm and bound him to the tree again and flogged him within an inch of his life. “There, Master Andres, you may call on that righter of wrongs if you like and you will see whether or not he rights this one. I do not think I have quite finished with you yet, for I have a good mind to flay you alive as you feared.”

Don Quixote is crazy, of course. And I pitied him even through Chapter 3—where he behaved rather badly. But here, I found that I was really very angry with him. He was so caught up in the romance of knighthood, that he didn’t find it necessary to make sure that justice was done—just that he announced what justice ought to be done. And in the end, Andres was harmed even more than he would otherwise have been.

This episode contrasts very well with a true story about Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA. During the Civil War, he had a diplomatic post in St. Petersburg, Russia. According to Nathan J. Winograd in his excellent book, Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America:

Finding the duties tiring and mundane, Bergh spent less time on official duties and more time taking aimless carriage rides throughout the city. When he witnessed a peasant beating his donkey on one such ride, Bergh ordered the man to stop, which the man did in deference to Bergh, who looked like a well-dressed gentleman of official position. According to legend, the experience completely transformed Henry Bergh and left him with an abiding sense of accomplishment. Bergh spent his remaining time in Russia traveling daily by carriage in search of such transgressions, which he could prevent by reason of his social class, official position and immense physical stature.

…

Bergh would spend the better part of the next two decades in a daily struggle for the animals in and around New York City. Turning to the event in the streets of St. Petersburg that inspired him, his first order of business was to better the plight of New York City’s much abused working draft horses … The annals of the ASPCA describe the first such encounter:

The driver of a cart laden with coal is whipping his horse. Passersby on the New York City street stop to gawk not so much at the weak, emaciated equine, but at the tall man, elegant in top hat and spats, who is explaining to the driver that it is now against the law to beat one’s animal. Thus, America first encounters “The Great Meddler.”

Bergh spent the next twenty-two years of his life daily going about New York personally stopping animal cruelty—even arresting people and taking them to jail. If he saw a horse-pulled train that was over-crowed, he would stop it and force the riders to get off. Henry Bergh was a Victorian Don Quixote, in the sense of one man out to right wrongs, no matter what the odds.

I am reading Don Quixote very slowly. I just pick it up when I want something light. It almost always wins out over P. G. Wodehouse. And it can be read in much the same way as The World of Jeeves. It is highly episodic. All this means, however, that I don’t know where Don Quixote is going. I’d like to think that Don Quixote really becomes the knight of his foolish fantasies. I hope that his quixotic quest leads him to the nobility of Bergh’s.

More About Don Quixote

Want to know more about Don Quixote and matters related? Check out our ongoing project:

Don Quixote in English

Politics: 31 August 2010

Posted on 31 Aug 2010 by Frank Moraes

You may have noticed that I have changed the format of this blog. This is due to the fact that most of what is happening on a day to day basis really isn’t that interesting or important. I have only two things to talk about today. The first is tragic but fascinating—even funny. The second is a round up of my flame war over at NewsOpi. I’m rather proud of my sarcasm, so I hope you will read it and enjoy.

Death to Environmentalists!

A 29-year-old electric motorcycle designer, Matthew Dieckmann, was killed on one of his no-emision bikes yesterday—by a man in a Toyota Prius. Get that: two environmentally friendly vehicles collided. This is sad, but ironic. That’s not the whole story, however. Three years earlier, Dieckmann’s mother—an avid bicyclist—was killed less than a mile from where her son died. A recycling truck colided with her on her bike. So we have four groups—all trying to do right by the environment—a mother and son. This is so sad, but in a sense, inspiring. Maybe it is an indication that more people are living lives of lower impact. And it is at least nice that both of the victims died doing what they loved and were passionate about. Read Julie Johnson’s Press Democrat story about it; it has some nice details I didn’t include.

Flame War!

I shouldn’t be doing this, but it is highly addictive. As I reported before, NewsOpi ran a story about the attendance at the Glenn Beck rally. Here are some more of my exchanges:

Kelly Kuhn on August 28, 2010 at 4:40 pm:

Okay, I have no idea who you are but your early numbers are so pathetic. I have attended dozens of organized events in Washington DC over the last three decades. This is clearly the largest gathering of people I have ever witnessed. We arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 5:15 this morning and there were already tens of thousands of people, peacefully awaiting the event.

By the time the event started at 10 AM there were easily over 500,000 people and by my humble guess, judging on the amount of people in front of the Memorial, clear down to the Washington Monument, would be somewhere between 650,000 and 750,000 people.

The event was a celebration of America’s past and a prayer for future leaders to emerge to continue what the founders started in the mid to late 100’s. The entire event will be on CSPAN tomorrow and I hope that many more can watch the event and judge for themselves the message that Glenn Beck and his guests were delivering.

God Bless America!

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 8:45 pm

Again and again and again and again! “There were already tens of thousands of people”! “There were easily over 500,000 people”! “Somewhere between 650,000 and 750,000 people”! You are just guessing–not even estimating. I dare say that based upon what you wrote you have no clue how to make such estimates.

And about those tens of thousands of people, peacefully awaiting the event: really? I mean, I’m not saying they weren’t, but are you really able to monitor tens of thousands of people? Don’t you think you just might have missed some kid pulling his sister’s hair because she took his favorite Hot Wheels car? Or a young couple getting into a fight because he was checking out that cute chick with the low-cut tank top over near the reflecting pool? And are your powers of policing limited to tens of thousands? Can we assume that much murder and mayhem occurred when the crowd reached 650,000?

Finally, I don’t think people like Thomas Paine would be too thrilled with people praying that future leaders continue his very secular vision for this country.

Frank Moraes on August 28, 2010 at 5:55 pm

The number comes from CBS and is based upon aircraft photographs at the peak of the event. The error is +/- 9,000. It is easy to over-estimate crowds from inside. Compare the pictures of today with those of 1963. You will see that there were more people then. There were over 200,000 people at that rally. Thus, today’s rally must be somewhat less. 87,000 sounds about right.

Allan on August 28, 2010 at 6:32 pm

Interesting that you did more research than the author of this article or he just neglected to site his sources.

Frank Moraes on August 29, 2010 at 11:28 am

The 87,000 number comes from CBS as I stated. I doubt that if Aidama Jaber had mentioned this that there would have been any change in the reaction. People would have just said, “Oh, that’s just the liberal media.” People seem to have some kind of emotional stake in the size of the rally. It really doesn’t matter. Glenn Beck has a lot of listeners and viewers. But he isn’t the Messiah and yesterday was not the Sermon on the Mount.

J on August 29, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Aerial Crowd Picture of Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally

check this pic out. way more than 87,000. the areas unde trees were completely full too so its even more people than u can see. also this is only in front of the WWII memorial, crowds were backed up past the washington monument. there was even more crowd density under the trees because you couldnt walk anywhere under them, once you got a spot under the trees you werent going to find a way out until it was over. there were sooo many people, way more than 87,000, which would fill less than half of the reflecting pool

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 7:42 am

Thank you for a reasonable reply. I’ve seen that picture before. It is not of high enough resolution for me to make a very good estimate. But I have tried. Now don’t get all mad. Assuming that the density of people under the trees to be the same as out in the sun, the number is between 50,000 and 200,000. (This is not hard to do. Try it yourself and see what numbers you get. That would at least have some validity.)

I don’t have an ax to grind in this matter. I don’t like Beck; I think he is bad for the country. But I know he is very popular. If no one had shown up at the event, it would not have made me feel better; if a million people showed up, it would not have made me feel worse.

What does make me feel bad is the anti-scientific bias on most of the comments here. There is a lot of science I’m not real happy about. Quantum mechanics bugs me, for example. But after eight years of studying it, I don’t dismiss it because I feel like classical mechanics just seems right.

tom on August 30, 2010 at 11:07 am

I’ve been to stadiums that hold 60,000-80,000 people, races that were full and those amounts were dwarfed by what i saw at the rally. Oh, since the number comes from CBS it must be true. It’s also easy to under estimate crowds from a communist’s eyeballs. CBS+communist mindsetXnew math=87,000

But you’re a me-so-smart elitist, so I guess I’ll go with your math.

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 3:52 pm

You are correct: I am an intellectual elitist: a PhD physicist. The number did not come from CBS. They simply hired a company to make the estimate. Why didn’t Fox do the same? Perhaps because facts don’t much matter on their “news” programs?

I hope you will go with my math. Based upon your comment, I assume you are an ignorant ideologue. How could you possibly know that I have “communist’s eyeballs”–whatever that might mean?

Have you read Common Sense, Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, The Federalist Papers, or even The Constitution of the United States? My experience with people who going around shouting “communist” at people they don’t like is that they haven’t read any of them–that they know next to nothing about what really is great about this country.

There I go again with that “me-so-smart elitist” thinking thing.

Pat on August 29, 2010 at 8:24 am

Talk about egomaniacs. Most everyone posting in support of Beck is calm polite and excited. Those of you who were bamboozled by Barack Obama and his smooth talk seem to have something to prove and think that you are “smarter” than the teapartiers. Really you are not that bright and Beck has history on his side to prove the TRUTH of what he says, you liberals have history on your side as well only it puts the Lie to your foolish social policies. Sharpton, Jackson, and Obama have never been about equalness they are about Sharpton, Jackson, and Obama. People like that could never understand MLK’s dream of people doing right out of care for their fellow man, considering they do things soley based on greed.

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 8:16 am

So let me get this straight: what you just wrote is calm and polite? It is offensive. It is off-topic. It is historically inaccurate.

Are repeated comments about liberals being from Cuba calm and polite? Are repeated attacks on Obama calm and polite? Is it calm and polite to respect the President–as long as he isn’t Obama?

No one on this page has countered anything I’ve written. I assume because there is no debate. But getting over 30 thumbs-down for a comment that simply cited the source for the 87,000 number does not indicate that people are being calm and polite to me.

I already posted this one, but “tom” responded, so I thought I would provide the whole exchange.

Frank Moraes on August 29, 2010 at 10:58 am

I notice that my very reasonable and factual post was hidden because I received a 6/32 rating. I take this to mean that no one had any problem with what I wrote, but simply with the fact that I relating information that the readers of this page did not want to hear. If people wish to live in an echo chamber where facts are the enemy, nothing can be done.

People do not vote on the quality of comments; they vote on whether they agree with what is said. This is madness and is why I do not allow “ratings” on my site (franklycurious.com or Frankly Curious). Unpopular comments add to the discussion. On this page, we see the same idea over and over: the rally was HUGE. Well it was huge; 87,000 is a large number of people. Why is it necessary to claim more?

I find almost all of the posts here fall into one of two categories. First: there were hundreds of thousands of people at the rally. (Wrong.) Second: Glenn Beck rocks. (Opinion, but I’m willing to listen.) How many times do these ideas have to be repeated. We know (1) Glenn Beck was probably wrong when he claimed that there would be over 100,000 at the rally, and (2) that Glenn Beck has millions of fans.

Could we please discuss something interesting? Here’s an idea: how is it that Beck managed to attract less than 100,000 people to an event that was nightly advertised on cable TV over the course of months, while MLK attracted well over twice that number without the ad campaign when the US population was half what it is today?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

tom on August 30, 2010 at 11:51 am

Because it is not true Frank. They are not respectable and certianly are not to be believed. I was there, it was way more than that. Believe what you want, more Kool-Aid is on the way. I never compared the MLK to 8/28 and never will. Two different times, two different events. Both were “AMERICAN” though. At least in my eyes.

Frank Moraes on August 30, 2010 at 11:15 pm

There has been one scientific study of the size of the rally. It was performed by a legitimate company that has been doing this sort of thing for over ten years. All other “estimates” are simply people guessing. I am more than willing to change my opinion when some actual facts are brought up that conflict with the only facts we have. Your statement that you were there is meaningless. Were you in a position to see the majority of the crowd? Did you do a count of a small area and extrapolate? At least that would be a start–but even that would have an extremely high uncertainty. The 87,000 +/- 9,000 estimate is based on high-resolution photographs taken from balloons. These photographs where then independently analyzed by three experts. Given the choice between this methodology and your “Gee, there sure are a lot of people here” estimate, I’ll go with the former.

Isn’t it enough that a couple million people watch Glenn Beck on TV every day? He is hugely popular. Why do his followers always have to pretend that they are some kind of victims of some conspiracy? Poor Mr. Beck: those liberal meanies just won’t let him get his message out.

Big Rob on August 29, 2010 at 3:21 pm

87,000 is laughable. There was a permit for 300,000 and it is known that X amount of people can fill a certain areas of the mall. The attendance was enough to meet the approximation of 300,000 AND THEN SOME.

Frank Moraes on August 30, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Based upon what? A group of scientists perform a test and you (and many others) dismiss it out of hand. Do you even know where the 87,000 figure comes from? Do you know what the error is on that number? Is “AND THEN SOME” the error on your “estimate”?

A 100 sq ft space can be filled with ten people. Or it can be filled with 100 people. I suggest you go back and look at the photographs of the MLK rally and see how little elbow room there was. (Answer: not much.) At Beck’s rally there was lots of elbow room. And the people were (how can put this gently) better fed.

Dan on August 30, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Well I guess someone has to believe Fox Network for entertainment purposes. After all the head of a Newscorp the parent of Fox comes from a socialist country (Australia) social medicine and so on. Also the largest common stock holder of New Corp is the Saudi Prince a Muslim. And I never hear mr beck bring that up to the listeners when he speaks of God, I didn’t hear him reach out to the other religions or discuss Allah? Did you? Tom?

Frank Moraes on August 30, 2010 at 11:35 pm

Since you are about the only reasonable person around here, Dan, I am curious why you are wasting your time with these fools. I ask because I cannot figure out why I am doing so. Almost every comment is, “I was at the rally and it was way bigger than 87,000.” Clearly, this is not a political discussion. This is religious. These people think that Glenn Beck is a prophet. I do not, of course. But there are things about him I admire. He is a seeker. Unfortunately, he is looking for knowledge in all the wrong places.

My question is sincere: why waste the time here? No one here is looking for knowledge. No one here is even listening.

LaNell Babbage-Torres on August 30, 2010 at 6:07 am

As a black American I can say yes I was there. Yes Iam a supporter of Glenn Beck. Again as stated on my facebook page, the Dream is for everyone! Dr. King died for theDream that the Constitution established by our founding fathers. The Tea Paty is the new Civil Rights movement! Glenn is calling Americans back to it’s beginings.
Back to the Bible and back to Honor that Dr. King stood for, that the founding fathers outlined for us all!!!
LaNell Babbage-Torres

Frank Moraes on August 30, 2010 at 11:50 pm

Most of the people Glenn Beck follows hated MLK. If Glenn Beck had been an adult during the voting rights movement, he would have been against it. Just because you are black does not mean that you know anything about MLK, Glenn Beck, or the movement. Ignorance comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Check out wacko Cleon Skousen to learn everything you need to know about Glenn Beck…

I have a dream speech

Beck and King both have dreams–but they are not the same.

I think this one is very funny, but there is no accounting for taste.

Mary Westlie-Jones on August 30, 2010 at 11:56 am

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

Frank Moraes on August 30, 2010 at 11:53 pm

“But 87,000 is right out!” -Monty Python

Bill on August 30, 2010 at 7:41 pm

God is with all of us…especially when we are alone.

What went on on the surface at Beckstock was great. Personal responsibily…charity..faith…all great stuff.

If you go a little deeper…all these wonderful things are being twisted in an attempt to form a mutated Far right domestic agenda which would leave the vast, vast majority of americans behind & betrays what the founding fathers wanted this country to be….it’s pyscho world…with the biggest psycho leading the way.

Do you know what MLK was doing in Memphis to begin with? He was marching and advocating for Mostly black UNIONIZED sanitation workers to get increases their wages. Sounds like social justice to me.

So many people who espouse to the gospel of Beck..Limbaugh and the like are being used like pawns in a chess game to vote republican so the Corporatocracy, which is our government, can be maintained and the massive redistribution of wealth.. (to the top 1%) can continue like it has for the last 30yrs….that’s what all this is about…creating the social issues to get folks terrified so they will vote in conservatives schills to keep corporate america in power over THE PEOPLE. Your right about one thing…our government is broken…but not for the reasons you think.

WAKE UP!!!

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 12:05 am

I was wrong: Dan is not the only non-fool here.

Well put. You have summed up the conservative strategy perfectly.

Don’t you think it’s interesting how the really angry Tea Party people are generally well-off economically? Shouldn’t it be the poor who are really angry? Is this why it is more important to keep inflation down than to keep unemployment down. If you’ve already got the cash, you don’t need a job; you just need your cash to maintain its value.

Damn! I’ve become another Paul Krugman created liberal zombie. Stop me before I think again!

Kellyjo on August 30, 2010 at 9:36 pm

America is freedom, but this is taken away when your entire life is governed… Keep God in your heart, and He will keep you safe…

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3

Frank Moraes on August 31, 2010 at 2:26 pm

I’m confused. Am I to trust in the Lord to tell me how many people were at the rally? I don’t need to think about it, reason it through, or create and run tests? I just need to pray and God will tell me that there were over a half million people at the rally?

Truly, my God has much more pressing issues.

Politics: 30 August 2010

Posted on 30 Aug 2010 by Frank Moraes

I don’t want to keep hammering this, but the media coverage of the estimates of the attendance of Glenn Beck’s rally are really bugging me. Let’s look at what News Provider has to say:

Beck says that the attendance could have been between 300000 (low end) and 650000 (high one).

Some firms that were hired to estimate the attendance said that the attendance could have been between 78000 and 96000. The average of what analysts said was around 87000.

What’s the truth? Impossible to say.

My emphasis!

What we have here is a contrast between Glenn Beck’s self-aggrandizing estimate and actual scientific measurements taken by an established company, AirPhotos Live, that has been doing this kind of work for over a decade. How did they do it? They took high-resolution images of the event from balloons. Then, they gave the images to three independent technicians to make estimates. Their result: 87,000 +/- 9000.

In the end, it will be reported that there were 300,000 people at the rally. Why? Because that is the middle number between the low scientifically derived 87,000 and Glenn Beck’s “more than twice the legal number allowed” guess. We all know our Aristotle, right? The truth is somewhere in the middle. So it must be 300,000.

I’m going crazy!

Yes, I know it is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And I am sad for this suddenly very white city. You know the blues is really a white art form. Just listen to Albino Tommy Johnson who sold him stock options for supernatural guitar prowess.

I gotta go now.

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

Posted on 29 Aug 2010 by Frank Moraes

Clapping Hands According to my favorite online dictionary, a koan is “a paradox to be meditated upon that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to abandon ultimate dependence on reason and to force them into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment.” And the most famous koan is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” The idea is that there is not a rational answer—the monk must come to an intuitive answer to the question.

As the best monks will tell you, this is pure nonsense. I thought about the sound of one hand clapping for a couple of decades and I came to an answer that is both rational and spiritual. The most common answer to the question is that it is (with apologies to Paul Simon) the sound of silence. The idea has something to do with hearing the sound of no sound. Again, as the best monks will tell you, this is pure nonsense.

According to the Zen Community of Oregon, “It asks us to undertake deep listening, to listen as we never have before, to listen not only with our ears but with our entire being, our eyes, our skin, our bones and our heart.” Wisdom or nonsense? You decide. But first consider this: what does the word “sound” mean?

This brings up the old (and boring) philosophical “riddle,” “If an Oldsmobile backfires and no one (human, squirrel, whatever) hears it, does it make a sound?” This is no riddle. The backfire creates compression waves—not sounds. Sounds are things that ears and brains turn compression waves into. So no: no hearer, no sound.

Similarly, there is no sound of one hand clapping. The question would be better posed: “What is the effect of one hand clapping?” Ah! This is a question I can sink my teeth into. To understand, however, we must first acknowledge that there is no reasonable question here. It is very much like asking, “What is the orange of one apple?” It is a nonsense question—but one that raises important sensical questions.

There is no sound of one hand clapping, because one hand cannot clap. What does this say about clapping? It requires two or more hands. The essence of the question is that clapping is a form of communication—an act or instance of transmitting. Because a hand is a complex thing, it can do many things alone. It can pick objects up, for example. The clapping question reduces the hand to a single function—this is helpful for the purposes of this discussion.

Just as a lone hand cannot clap, a lone person cannot live. It is only through our interconnectedness that we exist. We are both separate and inseparable. Without this interconnectedness, we are alone—we are our own universe. Thus, it is only through our interconnectedness that the universe exists. The sound of one hand clapping is loneliness. The sound of one hand clapping is nihilism. The sound of one hand clapping is nothing.

If this answer makes no sense, take two aspirin, and call me in two decades.

Politics: 29 August 2010

Posted on 29 Aug 2010 by Frank Moraes

David Harvey provides an excellent Marxist crique of our current economic crisis. HowTheWorldWorks, provides a critique of this critique that is utterly falacious. Here is the link, but I warn you: it is disingenuous—filled with very familar conservative lies and distortions. You don’t need to listen to Harvey’s whole lecture, but you can. At least, watch this video:

Politics: 28 August 2010

Posted on 28 Aug 2010 by Frank Moraes

I will have more to say tomorrow (or even tonight). For now, nothing more need be said.

Update

There were 87,000 people at Glenn Beck’s rally. This compares rather poorly with MLK’s 1963 rally that drew over 200,000 without the months of cable advertising. When the readers of NewsOpi read this number, they went crazy. These people really believe that their movement is much bigger than it is. I posted the following:

Update 2

A number of people at the 47th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech yelled to the teabaggers, “Don’t drink the tea!” I’m afraid it’s too late.

Update 3

Back to my battle on NewsOpi:

I notice that my very reasonable and factual post was hidden because I received a 6/32 rating. I take this to mean that no one had any problem with what I wrote, but simply with the fact that I [was] relating information that the readers of this page did not want to hear. If people wish to live in an echo chamber where facts are the enemy, nothing can be done.

People do not vote on the quality of comments; they vote on whether they agree with what is said. This is madness and is why I do not allow “ratings” on my site (franklycurious.com or Frankly Curious). Unpopular comments add to the discussion. On this page, we see the same idea over and over: the rally was HUGE. Well it _was_ huge; 87,000 is a large number of people. Why is it necessary to claim more?