A Bit About Me

Something I posted on a social networking site:

I'm not a social networking kind of guy. You'd think that as a Computer Science prof I'd embrace this sort of stuff, but I've always found it kind of idiotic. That is until I realized that I could get in touch with old flames and friends from the good 'ol days. Now it's not so idiotic!

I think the older I get, the simpler I become. I believe in respecting others and allowing them the freedom to choose to believe what they will; after all, we ultimately have free will.

<rant>
Except idiots; I don't believe in respecting idiots. I also don't believe in being politically correct. I think that part of our society's ostensible demise is due to the drive toward political correctness and the ludicrous view that everyone is a winner. Losing is normal. Losing is perfectly fine. Life isn't fair and never will be. Next time, just try harder.

I'm tired of taking care of the welfare class. I have absolutely no problem helping those that attempt to help themselves--even if it's through my taxes (to some extent). However, I have a huge problem helping the cretins that choose to do nothing but take advantage of our asinine, inefficient welfare system. And no, I will not blame the system! People should always take responsibility for their actions.

As far as I'm concerned, it's perfectly normal to fail and fall flat on your ass; the trick is to pick yourself back up each time you fail instead of going for the handout. How many times do you think Edison failed before finally figuring out the light bulb thing? Or as he put it himself, "I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that it will not work." It's the "promise" of the American dream, not the "guarantee" as so many seem to think. We don't get equal results in life. Deal with it!

I hate slow drivers in the left lane. I hate it when people don't use their turn signals. Repeat after me: "It's not just for the people behind me! And it's not just to let people know that I'm about to turn, but that I'm also about to slow down!" And engaging your turn signals in the middle of the turn is about as inane as being hit by a parked car. I wish that cell phones could function as remote control stun guns too; you know, for the dunces chatting away while driving. And now they're texting while driving! Idiocracy in action...

And in case you don't get it, man made global warming is about as reasoned as believing that the swine flu can be caught by eating pork rinds. There's always room for research and debate; that should *never* end. And when I mean research and debate, I mean that scientists in the field ought to research and debate; not politicians with an agenda and some segment of industry's hands down their pockets! Let's face it; global climate change exists. We have proof. And by the way, climate is not the same as weather. Weather is short-term and can frequently exhibit extremes. Climate is long-term. But climate change means both warming and cooling. Our planet has warmed and cooled since its birth. The issue I have is with the idea that (1) humans can cause (and have caused) global climate change; and (2) humans can therefore do something about it (i.e. fix the "problem"). It is admirable to think that we can "regulate" our climate. If indeed we could, it would be a wonderful thing! But it's also very arrogant to believe that we can affect our climate in any significant way. Nothing we have (data, statistics, research) even hints to this nonsense. So do we have some influence on global climate? Probably so. How much? Probably a lot less than that big, hot ball in the sky we call the sun. I recall an impartial scientific study that attributed a maximum of 2% influence to humans, which basically means that no matter what we try to do to affect our climate, it won't work. We're just too insignificant! But that's not to say that we shouldn't be good stewards of our planet. That's a no-brainer to me. We should all try to be more "conservative" in this. Hehehe. By the way, since when did we (i.e. humans) stop being a part of nature?
</rant>

But more seriously, this probably explains me better than anything else at the moment:
http://www.jeangourd.com:4352/we_surround_them

Something else I posted on a social networking site:

I read an interesting article the other day in a typically "greenie" magazine. A quick note: by "greenie" I do not mean to refer to someone who has a healthy respect for our planet and chooses to make decisions in his or her personal life that attempt to "take care of it." I mean to refer to someone who believes that everyone should change their way of life (perhaps even by force of law) in order to make our earth better--in order to "save" the earth from ourselves. The implication is that we are causing the earth harm, that we can do something about it if we change, and that we must do something NOW, even to the point that we should not think about what we are doing but instead to simply do--without question! It is very much like a religion. Actually, it is a religion; it is "morality" handed down by decree. In reality, such "moral" principles require reasoning; one cannot passively accept them (as so many often do). Moreover, it is almost always the case that such beliefs are taken at face value upon reading a work or hearing them from someone of high regard. Most often, not one second has been spent to investigate and research the reasons for this belief. That is the "greenie" that I am referring to, which just about covers all of our environmentally passionate politicians.

The article is about the link between vaccination and autism. Many people refuse to vaccinate their children because of this purported link. In reality, the article says, the data refute such claims and actually support the fact that not vaccinating children can cause great harm to them and to society. But I do not wish to debate this specific issue; I just found the following phrases in the article quite interesting:

"Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making hasty inferences, even when they appear to make perfect sense."

"[T]he human brain has a natural tendency to pattern-match--to ignore the old dictum "correlation does not imply causation" and stubbornly persist in associating proximate phenomena. If two things coexist, the brain often tells us, they must be related."

"[I]f you need a new factoid to support your belief system, it has never been easier to find one. The Internet offers a treasure trove of undifferentiated information, data, research, speculation, half-truths, anecdotes, and conjecture. It is also a democratizing force that tends to undermine authority, cut out the middleman, end empower individuals."

It was interesting to me how these align themselves quite well with the very popular global warming debate (which has been renamed global climate change in order to continue the debate in the face of contrary data). It would seem (and is) quite easy to say that humans are the cause of global warming. That may make sense and give us hope that we can actually do something about it. If we are the cause, then we ought to be able to do something about it. It would indeed be terrible if we could do nothing. Discussion would be mostly pointless. What if the sun and oceans are wholly causing this? What if it is all just a big cycle that can be modeled via a function similar to a sine wave? But then we would have nothing to argue over, no way to create and enforce laws that would provide governments with more control over their people, no way to form a global set of laws that tie every country together, thereby fading their sovereignty.

We are ignoring the fact that correlation does not imply causation. Case in point: the inventor of the Internet (Al Gore if you cannot remember) quite often mentions that as CO2 levels rise, so does temperature. This forms the basis for the current belief in global warming, that we should lower our CO2 levels in order to mitigate it. The problem is how the data were originally layered. The correlation does exist, but the causation does not. In truth, the data points to the reverse: an increase in temperature effects an increase in CO2 levels. But that is neither here nor there to the "greenies." To them, global warming is man-made, and there is absolutely nothing one can say that will change their mind. Indeed they feel that they can do something about it. They have a cause. They have something to get behind. Isn't it interesting to see how so many people must have something to fight for--something that motivates them and makes them feel alive? Very weak indeed.

I have no problem with people believing whatever they choose. I just wish that they would stop interfering with my life in the process. Stop trying to lobby your man-made global warming beliefs in order to change laws that affect everyone. It is perfectly fine if you want to go solar, wind, to ride a bicycle to work, to change your light bulbs to more "efficient" ones, and so on. I've even done some of those things myself! Just stay the hell out of my business. That is unless you can prove to me that we are indeed causing this whole mess--and you cannot. Not now, not even with the large amounts of experiments and data that exist now. Because the data speaks otherwise. Unless you can do better than our current climate models--models that have such high error rates that we would never even think of using similar ones anywhere else. Again, as I have said many times, there is nothing wrong with being good stewards of this planet. But stop touting a belief that is simply something you have picked up along the way and convinced yourself is irrevocable truth. Tibi Cogitate! Think for yourself! Do the research, investigate, listen to both sides of the issue. More often than not, once you become educated on the issue, you will tend to take an opinion that lies somewhere in the middle. But then again, it is much easier to be a follower than it is to be a leader. Our societies are primarily comprised of followers. Leaders are rare because leading takes work. Leading takes effort. Most of us are entirely too lazy to lead. Just take a look at the horrible drivers on streets all over the world...

And from this web site comes a comparison of conservative and liberal core beliefs and views on a variety of issues. I include their categorical attributions and my own.

CONSERVATIVES believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.

LIBERALS believe in governmental action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all, and that it is the duty of the State to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Believe that people are basically good. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve people's problems.

ISSUE	CONSERVATIVE	LIBERAL	MY VIEWS

Abortion	Human life begins at conception. Abortion is the murder of a human being. Nobody has the right to murder a human being. Support legislation to prohibit partial birth abortions, called the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" (partial birth abortion - the killing of an unborn baby of at least 20 weeks by pulling it out of the birth canal with forceps, but leaving the head inside. An incision is made in the back of the baby's neck and the brain tissue is suctioned out. The head is then removed from the uterus.)	A fetus is not a human life. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding her own body and the government should stay out of it. Women should be guaranteed the right to a safe and legal abortion, including partial birth abortion.	Freedom must come with personal responsibility, and in this case responsibility trumps freedom. The fetus did not make its way into the woman's womb on its own. The woman must take responsibility for this "choice." Abortion is fine under only two circumstances: (1) there stands a good chance that the woman will die if she goes through with birth (and I don't mean an emotional death as in, "Oh my God, I'm so gonna die if I have this baby!"); and (2) the pregnancy is due to rape. Otherwise, abortion becomes a cowardly and selfish move.

Affirmative action	People should be admitted to schools and hired for jobs based on their ability. It is unfair to use race as a factor in the selection process. Reverse-discrimination is not a solution for racism.	Due to prevalent racism in the past, minorities were deprived of the same education and employment opportunities as whites. We need to make up for that. Support affirmative action based on the belief that America is still a racist society. Minorities still lag behind whites in all statistical measurements of success. Also, the presence of minorities creates diversity.	Affirmative action is nothing but reverse racism. A business owner should hire solely based on abilities. Skin color, sexual preference, and any other controversial attributes have absolutely nothing to do with this process. It's much better to punish business owners stiffly for clearly not hiring the most able individual because of race, for example.

Death penalty	The death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime; it is neither ‘cruel' nor ‘unusual'. Executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life.	We should abolish the death penalty. The death penalty is inhumane and is ‘cruel and unusual' punishment. It does not deter crime. Imprisonment is the appropriate punishment. Every execution risks killing an innocent person.	Punishment for crimes is fine. Rehabilitation is not; it's actually been shown not to work for most serious crimes (e.g. murder, rape, etc). But let's punish and not provide camp. No TV, no phone, no nothing except for 3 meals a day and 1 hour a day spent jogging outside. Period. 23 hours a day you sit on your ass in a small jail cell. If we can absolutely prove murder through, say DNA evidence, then the death penalty is appropriate. Why would we ever want to keep such a person around?

Economy	The free market system, competitive capitalism, and private enterprise afford the widest opportunity and the highest standard of living for all. Free markets produce more economic growth, more jobs and higher standards of living than those systems burdened by excessive government regulation.	Favor a market system in which government regulates the economy. We need government to protect us against big businesses. Unlike the private sector, the government is motivated by public interest. We need government regulation to level the playing field.	Stay tuned.

Education - school vouchers	School vouchers will give all parents the right to choose good schools for their children, not just those who can afford private schools. Parents (who pay the taxes that fund the schools) should decide how and where to educate their child.	School vouchers are untested experiments. We need to focus on more funding for existing public schools to raise teacher salaries and reduce class size.	Stay tuned.

The environment	Desire clean water, clean air and a clean planet, just like everyone else. However, extreme environmental policies destroy jobs and damage the economy. Changes in global temperatures are natural over long periods of time. So far, science has not shown that humans can affect permanent change to the earth's temperature.	Conservatives don't care about protecting the environment. Industrial growth harms the environment. Global warming is caused by an increased production of carbon dioxide. The U.S. is a major contributor to global warming because it produces 25% of the world's carbon dioxide. The U.S. should enact laws to significantly reduce that amount.	Stay tuned.

Gun control	The Second Amendment gives the individual the right to keep and bear arms. Gun control laws do not thwart criminals. You have a right to defend yourself against criminals. More guns mean less crime.	The Second Amendment gives no individual the right to own a gun, but allows the state to keep a militia (National Guard). Guns kill people. Guns kill children.	Stay tuned.

Health care	Free healthcare provided by the government (socialized medicine) means that everyone will get the same poor-quality healthcare. The rich will continue to pay for superior healthcare, while all others will receive poor-quality free healthcare from the government. Health care should remain privatized. Support Healthcare Spending Accounts.	Support universal government-supervised health care. There are millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance. They are being deprived of a basic right to healthcare.	Stay tuned.

Homeland security	Wary of parts of the Patriot Act	Oppose the Patriot Act	Stay tuned.

Immigration	Support legal immigration at current numbers, but do not support illegal immigration. Government should enforce immigration laws. Oppose President Bush's amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. Those who break the law by entering the U.S. illegally should not have the same rights as those who obey the law by entering legally. If there were a decrease in cheap, illegal immigrant labor, employers would have to substitute higher-priced domestic employees, legal immigrants, or perhaps increase mechanization.	Support legal immigration and increasing the number of legal immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. each year. Support blanket amnesty for current illegal immigrants. Believe that regardless of how they came to the U.S., illegal immigrants deserve: U.S. government financial aid for college tuition. visas for spouse/children to come to the U.S. Families shouldn't be separated. Illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans do not want to do.	Stay tuned.

Religion	The phrase "separation of church and state" is not in the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This prevents the government from establishing a national church. However, it does not prevent God from being acknowledged in schools and government buildings. Oppose the removal of symbols of Christian heritage from public and government spaces. Government should not interfere with religion and religious freedom.	Support the separation of church and state. Religious expression has no place in government. Support the removal of all references to God in public and government spaces. Religion should not interfere with government.	Stay tuned.

Same-sex marriage	Marriage is between one man and one woman. Opinions differ on support for the creation of a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Believe that requiring citizens to sanction same-sex relationships violates moral and religious beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman.	Marriage should be legal for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples to ensure equal rights for all. All individuals, regardless of their sex, have the right to marry. Believe that prohibiting same-sex citizens from marrying denies them of their civil rights. Opinions differ on whether this issue is equal to civil rights for African Americans.	Stay tuned.

Social Security	The current Social Security system is in serious financial trouble. Changes are necessary because the U.S. will be unable to maintain the current system it in the future. Support proposal to allow a portion of Social Security dollars withheld to be put into an account chosen by the individual, not the government.	Generally oppose change to the current Social Security system. Opinions vary on whether the current system is in financial trouble. Changing the current system will cause people to lose their Social Security benefits. Support a cap on Social Security payments to the wealthy.	Stay tuned.

Taxes	Support lower taxes and a smaller government. Lower taxes create more incentive for people to work, save, invest, and engage in entrepreneurial endeavors. Money is best spent by those who earn it.	Support higher taxes and a larger government. High taxes enable the government to do good and create jobs. We need high taxes for social welfare programs, to provide for the poor. We can't afford to cut taxes.	Stay tuned.

United Nations (UN)	The UN has repeatedly failed in its essential mission: to preserve world peace. The wars, genocide and human rights abuses of the majority of its member states (and the UN's failure to stop them) prove this point. History shows that the United States, not the UN, is the global force for spreading freedom, prosperity, tolerance and peace. The U.S. should never subvert its national interests to those of the UN.	The United States has a moral and a legal obligation to support the United Nations (UN). The UN can be effective in promoting peace and human rights. The U.S. should not have acted in Iraq without UN approval. The U.S. should submit its national interests to the greater good (as defined by the UN).	Stay tuned.

War in Iraq	This was a preemptive strike to protect the U.S. All intelligence indicated that Saddam Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the past and was prepared to use them again. He would not allow United Nations weapons inspectors to confirm his claim that he had destroyed his WMDs. A democracy can succeed in Iraq if the people are given the opportunity to create one. All people want to live in freedom.	This is Bush's war for oil. Saddam Hussein was no real threat. We have not found weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), so Saddam did not have any. President Bush lied about WMDs and the dangers posed by Saddam. We should have given the UN more time. We have alienated the rest of the world by our unilateral action (‘go it alone' attitude). A democracy can't succeed in Iraq. Not everyone wants to live in a democracy.	Stay tuned.

War on terror/terrorism	The world toward which the Militant Islamists strive cannot peacefully co-exist with the Western world. In the last decade, Militant Islamists have repeatedly attacked Americans and American interests here and abroad. The terrorists must be stopped and destroyed.	9/11 was caused by America's arrogant foreign policy. America needs to stop angering other countries. The threat posed by terrorism is exaggerated by President Bush for his own political advantage.	Stay tuned.

Welfare	Oppose long-term welfare. We need to provide opportunities to make it possible for poor and low-income workers to become self-reliant. It is far more compassionate and effective to encourage a person to become self-reliant, rather than keeping them dependent on the government for money.	Support welfare. We need welfare to provide for the poor. Conservatives oppose welfare because they are not compassionate toward the poor. We have welfare to bring fairness to American economic life. Without welfare, life below the poverty line would be intolerable.	Stay tuned.