15 January 2019

This week's thoughts: Optimist; notable dates in US history; the Wall; the “new” politics; old age; Chinese science;

Optimist, 13 January 2019. Link here. Did you know that Jupiter is our "best" planet? A most precious gift to a most unusual person. How to combat racism in hockey. Eating to save the planet? So here is your unusual menu.

Notable dates.
     9 January 1914: Los Angeles county opened America's first public defender office. 1931: Bobbi Trout and Edna May Cooper broke an endurance record for female aviators with a flight of 122 hours and 50 minutes.
     10 January 1776: Common Sense, Thomas Paine's incendiary pamphlet advocating separation from England, was published anonymously.
     11 January 1908: President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Grand Canyon National Monument. 1935: Amelia Earhart began her flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, making her the first person to fly solo across any portion of the Pacific Ocean. 
     12 January 1959: Barry Gordy launched the fabled Mo Town record company.
     13 January 1941: Puerto Ricans were granted birthright US citizenship. 1968: Johnny Cash performed and recorded his Folsom prison performances.
     15 January 1919: A spill of an estimated2.3M gallons of molasses in Boston's North End killed 21 people. 1929: MLK, Jr., was born in Atlanta, GA.

Washington, D.C. metro. The stuff of science fiction? Unintended consequences? Did you know that your D.C. metro car was made in China and it might be capable of "spying" on you, or be "hackable" by a Chinese spymaster?

Congress, the Pentagon and industry experts have taken the warnings seriously, and now Metro will do the same. The transit agency recently decided to add cybersecurity safeguards to specifications for a contract it will award later this year for its next-generation rail cars following warnings that China’s state-owned rail car manufacturer could win the deal by undercutting other bidders....China makes no secret of its desire to dominate the global rail car industry. Its “Made in China 2025” economic strategy proposes to seek competitive advantage in that sector, among others.

There is no US company that makes rail cars, though we do manufacture freight rail cars; however, the Chinese may move into that market, too.

The Wall and yellow vests.  Columnist Richard Cohen writes, "Which side of the wall of decency are you on?" He thinks what the US workers need are about 1M yellow vests to be worn at public demonstrations. "No pay, no work!" This being America, Cohen suggests skipping Le Marseillaise, rather, strike up the band with a rousing rendition of "Whose side are you on?"

I do not suggest that federal workers follow the French example by taking to the streets and committing violent acts. I do suggest that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her Senate counterpart, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), stop trudging to the White House to negotiate with Trump. Instead, they should take their case to the people and demand in the hallowed phrase of “a day’s pay for a day’s work” that the president pay his employees.

In his op ed piece the morning after the President addressed the nation about The Wall, Stephen Stromberg voiced a not uncommon thought: "In the Great Wall Debate of 2019, President Trump is losing on his own terms." He is backing himself into an ever smaller corner as the real economic pain of the government shutdown spreads -- even among his base. Just how long with a stalwart "Trumpian" worker continue to back a billionaire president whose pay is guaranteed and whose policy is now threatening the worker's family with mounting debt of back due bills for food, housing, health care?
     All for a symbolic barrier that does not really address very broad concerns involved with true border security?

New politics and politicians. The 2020 campaigns will be different, not just new names and faces, but, most importantly, new styles. Candidates can now gain instant name/face recognition using social media — much diminishing the need for, or allegiance to, the old guard of a particular party. Older candidates, especially “old, white gals/guys” may not be able to catch up. Neatly encapsulated by one writer who wonders: “What will happen when live-streams become the new fireside chat?”
     Other communications milestones include: William McKinley, first in movies, his inaugural parade, 4 March 1897; Herbert Hoover, first on radio, State of the Union address (6 December 1923); FDR, first on TV (30 April 1939); Truman,  first national TV address (5 October 1947); JFK - RMN debates (26 September 1960).
    Columnist Jonathan Caphart writes, "Everyone’s talking about Beto and Biden. But here’s another ‘B’ you should know." Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, IN, Harvard grad, Rhodes Scholar, progressive Democrat (in a red state), gay, married, a USN veteran (Afghanistan).

Old Age. How old is "too old" to be president. With November 2020 just over the horizon and several candidates in their late 70's, Evan Thomas' column poses that question. He discusses the political past, the interplay of past presidents and the so-called "Wise Old Men" who advised them.
    Thomas concludes, "So listen to your elders. But don’t necessarily vote for them."

Chinese scientific endeavors. This Economist article discusses what seems to be the aims of President Xi. This as the present administration is taking steps to rein in both US scientific endeavors and what the pubic will learn of what is actually being done. Censorship, in all its forms, is a dangerous tool.

A HUNDRED YEARS ago a wave of student protests broke over China’s great cities. Desperate to reverse a century of decline, the leaders of the May Fourth Movement wanted to jettison Confucianism and import the dynamism of the West. The creation of a modern China would come about, they argued, by recruiting “Mr Science” and “Mr Democracy”...Today the country that the May Fourth students helped shape is more than ever consumed by the pursuit of national greatness...China is hurtling up the rankings of scientific achievement, as our investigations show (see article)....A scientific superpower wrapped up in a one-party dictatorship is indeed intimidating.

     An op-ed by Namrata Goswami notes that the real space race from the Chinese perspective is about space exploitation, a permanent presence in space, not merely exploration. This is not the second act of the old Cold War and the US is not doing well in this contest.    
      In the end, the saving grace for the US and other western nations may be the capitalistic profit motive which will drive independent research. One can only wonder what happening at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), best known for developing the ubiquitous internet.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the upcoming MLK, Jr. weekend.