Peter Riva's Blog, page 3

Recap – Mid-East, Where Are We?In a media frenzy dependent on...

Recap – Mid-East, Where Are We?

In a media frenzy dependent on “what’s happening today,” sometimes the overview is lost. So, depressing as this is, you need context to know where we are in all the mess percolating in the Mid-East to understand the evening news or NY Times.
All evaluation points to the fact that the situation on the ground in Syria has dramatically worsened. The country is now in the fifth year with fighting escalating and attacks being targeted on civilians being ramped up. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos told the Security Council, “Civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict…. The inability of… countries with influence over the different parties at war in Syria to agree on the elements for a political solution in the country means that the humanitarian consequences will continue to be dire for millions of Syrians.”  The conflict has already claimed more than 220,000 lives. Meanwhile, more than 12.2 million people continue to require life-saving aid. The fighting has also provoked massive displacement with more than 4 million people having sought refuge in neighboring countries, while a further 7.6 million are displaced within Syria. Ms. Amos observed that children were “particularly badly affected” by the hostilities with 5.6 million children now in need of assistance and well over 2 million children out of school.
Our US Civil War killed a little over 130,000 – so imagine how long Syria and the region will take to get over their “little internal war” (as one Congressman referred to it).
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has begun military operations in the Gulf nation of Yemen and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, warned that the country is on a “rapid downward spiral” as the conflict has taken on “worrying sectarian tones and deepening north-south divisions.”
And let’s turn to the constant issue in the region – Israel and Palestine. Those parties do not appear ready to recommence talks. Robert Serry, serving as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Middle East for the last 7 years (so he knows a thing or two), “I cannot but express an overriding feeling that I have been part of a peace process in which a can is kicked down an endless road.” And then he added a warning as he is leaving his post, “Losing sight of reaching peace between Israel, Palestine and the wider Arab world altogether – and I have repeatedly warned that we may be heading in this direction – would be tantamount to pouring more oil on the regional flames.”
When he congratulated Prime Minister Netanyahu on his re-election, he did sound a word of caution over Bibi’s hard line comments regarding no two nation peace talks which, of course, sparked a worrying decision by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to suspend all forms of security coordination given Israel’s systematic and ongoing noncompliance with its obligations under signed agreements. Serry, “We cannot run from reality. There is a genuine possibility that ending Palestinian security coordination with Israel may be the final nail in the coffin of the Oslo Accords. However, Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues for the third month, now amounting to over $400 million dollars, is deepening the financial crisis.”
Okay, that’s perhaps enough depressing news, but you should know this: Nigeria, the Congo, and other African countries are in similar (continuing) turmoil. It just doesn’t make your evening news. Worldwide, there are 42.9 million refugees or displaced persons and 125 million people needing aid in war-torn areas – and if that many people are being adversely affected because of war, you are looking at numbers approaching the disasters of WWII.

Al-shabaab? It is weird, I finished this three years ago…...

Al-shabaab? It is weird, I finished this three years ago… when no one had heard of them - published soon, on April 28th. The definition of terrorism is to commit an act that cannot be forgiven. That’s their weapon. That’s their cause.

Polling Means Pandering to Opinion Not Fact ...

                   Polling Means Pandering to Opinion Not Fact
   Polls are increasingly being used throughout America to govern the lives we lead. Politicians poll supposedly to determine public interest and opinion. Businesses poll supposedly to determine product viability and likely success. The military polls supposedly to determine the viability of new strategies and hardware needs going forward. Education polls to determine the supposed educational needs of future students. Charitable organizations poll supposedly to determine new avenues for fund-raising strategies.
   Polls are not fit for purpose and are all wrong in determining accurate facts, dangerously so.
   Business: Polling is not really market testing. It tries to be market prediction but the limit of the sample (usually a group of in-house marketing and sales pundits with a few outside consumers) makes polling a glorified decision-by-committee wherein politics, peer pressure and personal agendas are played out. As a licensing agent for over forty years, I have seen – especially in publishing – these false polling methods mirror a lack of insight, risk-taking, and success across the board. In space exploration, polling inside and outside of industry has lead us to abandon footprints on the moon for over forty years. Want the cure? Look at Space X and Orbit Sciences – not a poll in sight.
   Military: Polling takes place among congressional leaders to see what they want and are willing to pay for, just like any whore touting capabilities to provide, well, anything you want. In addition the Military polls the generals to see what they think they need. But the moment some lower rank soldier steps forward and says their group poll is wrong, the soldier gets reprimanded. Close air support for boots on the ground? The military polling answer? “We don’t need the A10 Warthog, the polls show to replace it with more cost effective Tomahawk cruise missiles.” So far six individual soldiers have said, in essence, “What? Are you nuts?” The polls prove them wrong, of course.
   Education: Polling parents and teachers and businesses shape the direction of education. But polls are always written by someone with an agenda. “Do you want America to compete in math with the rest of the world which is scoring higher in tests?”  Yes is the only possible answer. Welcome to CORE. Testing is not the problem, achieving test results being the goal is the problem as anyone coming out of school will tell you. It is not the grade you got that was important, it is what you learned, how you learned that is the benchmark of success. And that success is entirely dependent on the quality of teachers and school infrastructure. You don’t need a poll to tell you that. But that’s one poll no one will ever conduct. Why? Because if you conduct that poll you would have to fix the school system: more pay, better training, accountability, more taxpayer support for the classroom (not the football stadium), more respect for the value of teachers.
   National charity is big business unlike local charities. And like all big businesses they want to grow, pay their employees more, be seen on TV to be doing more with more money. To achieve that profile, they think polling will tell them how to please the largest number of people. Jerry Lewis’ Muscular Dystrophy Appeal (MDA) and the Cerebral Palsy Appeal (CPA) both created the perfect public TV appeal, an appeal not determined by polling. If anyone had conducted a poll for MDA charities, they would never have thought of or had the guts to do what Jerry did. The anti-poll became the perfect appeal. Contrast that with pretty much every major charity running today.
   And that brings us to politics. Politics is, without any doubt on the wrong track. Politics govern our lives and shapes the country we live in. Politicians use polls to pander to the public, then asserting they are following public opinion and desires. They are not, of course, because the questions asked are sculpted to pre-determine or guide responses. Every time politicians use polls to help them make a decision they are not actually reflecting public will, they are segregating opinion into agree and disagree, with no middle ground. They are dividing the country. The country is not that divided, we are being told we are divided and that, in turn, makes politicians poll results to show we are deeply divided. To keep their jobs, then they need to reinforce that division to prove they are listening to their constituents which means they widen the divide a little more to show how strong they are. Any politician who relies on polls is a weak person and should not be trusted.
   Polling causes segregation. Polling causes a dumbing down of process, evaluation and intent. In the end, reliance on polling will destroy this nation. A nation cannot be led by false data designed to avoid personal accountability. Businesses fail with decision-by-committee polling. Military might and capability fails when making lowest common denominator assessment. Education fails when overlooking the obvious in favor of a good polling result. Charity fails when individual endeavor is replaced by polling drum-beating. Politics becomes treasonous when thinking is replaced by polled pandering to supposed masses.

(photo credit: United Nations UNHCR)Recap – Mid-East, Where Are...

(photo credit: United Nations UNHCR)

Recap – Mid-East, Where Are We?
In a media frenzy dependent on “what’s happening today,” sometimes the overview is lost. So, depressing as this is, you need context to know where we are in all the mess percolating in the Mid-East to understand the evening news or NY Times.
All evaluation points to the fact that the situation on the ground in Syria has dramatically worsened. The country is now in the fifth year with fighting escalating and attacks being targeted on civilians being ramped up. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos told the Security Council, “Civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict…. The inability of… countries with influence over the different parties at war in Syria to agree on the elements for a political solution in the country means that the humanitarian consequences will continue to be dire for millions of Syrians.”  The conflict has already claimed more than 220,000 lives. Meanwhile, more than 12.2 million people continue to require life-saving aid. The fighting has also provoked massive displacement with more than 4 million people having sought refuge in neighboring countries, while a further 7.6 million are displaced within Syria. Ms. Amos observed that children were “particularly badly affected” by the hostilities with 5.6 million children now in need of assistance and well over 2 million children out of school.
Our US Civil War killed a little over 130,000 – so imagine how long Syria and the region will take to get over their “little internal war” (as one Congressman referred to it).
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has begun military operations in the Gulf nation of Yemen and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, warned that the country is on a “rapid downward spiral” as the conflict has taken on “worrying sectarian tones and deepening north-south divisions.”
And let’s turn to the constant issue in the region – Israel and Palestine. Those parties do not appear ready to recommence talks. Robert Serry, serving as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Middle East for the last 7 years (so he knows a thing or two), “I cannot but express an overriding feeling that I have been part of a peace process in which a can is kicked down an endless road.” And then he added a warning as he is leaving his post, “Losing sight of reaching peace between Israel, Palestine and the wider Arab world altogether – and I have repeatedly warned that we may be heading in this direction – would be tantamount to pouring more oil on the regional flames.”
When he congratulated Prime Minister Netanyahu on his re-election, he did sound a word of caution over Bibi’s hard line comments regarding no two nation peace talks which, of course, sparked a worrying decision by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to suspend all forms of security coordination given Israel’s systematic and ongoing noncompliance with its obligations under signed agreements. Serry, “We cannot run from reality. There is a genuine possibility that ending Palestinian security coordination with Israel may be the final nail in the coffin of the Oslo Accords. However, Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues for the third month, now amounting to over $400 million dollars, is deepening the financial crisis.”
Okay, that’s perhaps enough depressing news, but you should know this: Nigeria, the Congo, and other African countries are in similar (continuing) turmoil. It just doesn’t make your evening news. Worldwide, there are 42.9 million refugees or displaced persons and 125 million people needing aid in war-torn areas – and if that many people are being adversely affected because of war, you are looking at numbers approaching the disasters of WWII.

SavingA Life From SpacePeople often ask, “Why do we...

Saving
A Life From Space

People often ask, “Why do we spend
money on NASA?” And when the media provides an answer of space exploration
benefits they always start with “Velcro and computers.” Okay, that’s sort of
true, but the fact is that every single great invention has always come about
by tackling the unknown and no current organization is better at assessing and
dealing with the unknown than NASA and its contractors.

When they needed to see inside
cast aluminum structures in order to build lighter space capsules, they
invented the CAT scan, saving millions of lives a year. When they needed to
protect electronic components from the corrosive atmosphere inside capsules and
satellites they came up with electro coating circuit boards enabling all electronics
of the modern age. The technical achievement list is endless. However, I do see
growing public apathy for the need for NASA needing to be reassessed by
recognizing more human benefits. Understanding the passion of science alone is
not enough for those incapable of truly understanding why a glowing spot on
Ceres is so damn interesting.

How about saving one man’s life?
Alone in the northern Atlantic ocean for four hours, Eirikur Johannsson from
Iceland was the only living crew member after the tragic sinking of the
Hallgimur fishing ship, lost in 50 foot waves and 80 mph winds. Desperate in
freezing waters, there was virtually no hope for his survival even wearing a
thermal fisherman’s float suit. Yes, he had an emergency rescue beacon from the
Norwegian AIS satellite system, but that only gave approximate data of where a
lone man in the vastness of the ocean was struggling to stay alive.

Fortunately several years before
NASA had cooperated with international shipping countries and had designed and
now monitors a shipping vessel ID system antenna installed on the outside of
the International Space Station (ISS). Since it was installed, this ISS ship ID
system was instantaneously able to track and monitor 30,000 ships on the open
ocean. What system did it replace? None came before. Previously no one had any
idea how many ships were at sea at any given time, let alone where they were to
within twenty feet, where they were heading or, in case of an emergency, what
their last known position was (if only airplanes had this system I hear you
thinking).

Using their tracking data, NASA
was able to coordinate six rescue ships and helicopters to within feet of the
stranded sailor, way up there in the freezing north Atlantic. Four hours
Eirikur was alone, four hours and looking at a grizzly death as hypothermia set
in and unconsciousness was mere hours away and then the NASA and EIS guided
helicopter showed up. The first thing he did once aboard the helicopter was to
guide them on the search for 3 other lost crew members who were, sadly, not found.

Every
day, around the world, ships at sea now rely on this tracking data.
International shipping can be dangerous (pirates, rough seas, collisions,
navigation errors) and often knowing where a ship is allows the shipping
companies to better advise their captains on changing course, on severe weather
predictions and on political changes at destinations. Cruise ships rely heavily
on this precise data – data that was never available before to any captain at
sea, owner at home, or rescue teams. NASA to the rescue!

Just How American Are You?

“My flag badge is bigger than your flag badge.” Will be the politicians’ rally cry this time next year. Some of the ultra-wing nut jobs in Congress are already wearing flag pins that are two inches across. I expect that next year they will be wearing flag pins the size of a small book cover, maybe with LED lights? Of course, they could always go the country club route and have all their suits and blazers’ breast pockets changed with an embroidered US flag sewn with real gold thread. 

First there were small, subtle USA flag pins worn at conferences overseas. Then politicians who wanted to appeal as “real Americans” to their otherwise ignorant public started sporting one inch flag pins. When Obama was running the primaries in 2008, he was criticized for not wearing one. He was called “unpatriotic” by several news organizations and pressure groups. The DNC Chair urged him to sport one when campaigning started in earnest just to avoid the “not really American” nonsense he was already associated with (thanks Donald). So he put one on, and promptly was branded a “flip-flopper.”

For a while everyone on the right wore a pin with an added piece of jewelry, a little gold star. Of course, they claimed it was in honor of the Secret Service. When the Secret Service reminded them that it is against the law to affix anything to our flag, to adulterate it in any way, some of them removed the fake star. Probably a good idea since one politician was overheard explaining it was a gold star to indicate he was part of the upper circle of the conservative party.

This desperation for elected officials to further proclaim they are, indeed, Americans may not be so far-fetched (although a piece of jewelry is hardly official proof). Officialdom spends a great deal of energy doubting any one of us is really American. Congress and some states are trying to force through ID checks, or proof of citizenship at the polls. Sounds fair, right? Well, just think back to President Bush’s good idea that we should all use passports to cross into Mexico or Canada. 6 million passports were suddenly needed and the State Dept. had to find hundreds of retired employees to handle the workload. Now, imagine if everyone had to prove they were a citizen, all 206 million eligible voters. Each and every one of them will need the originals, yes originals (no copies) of following (and add to that your marriage certificate if you want to register for Medicare or Social Security): birth certificate (copies not accepted), citizenship certificate from the State Department if you are naturalized (copies not accepted), citizenship certificates of both your parents if you were born overseas (copies not accepted), the list goes on… think your existing passport is sufficient proof? Guess again. And if you lose your Citizen Certificate (if you became an American) you’ll love this: you can apply and pay $500 for a duplicate which will take 6-9 months to be reissued by State while they track all your original filing and citizenship details to see if your still qualify to be a citizen. Yes, I said “if.” 

So, there are two lessons here. First do not believe anyone wearing a pin of the flag of the USA is actually any more American than you are and, two, make sure the most precious items you protect are those pieces of original paper and documents that show you are, indeed, a real American. Washington bureaucrats, it seems, would love to prove otherwise, huge flag pin or not.

Let’s Talk Breasts In America

Unacceptable: Naked images of breasts on public display
Acceptable: Naked breasts in any painting from before, say, 1860 in every public museum or images of the Madonna breast feeding baby Jesus

Unacceptable: Breast feeding in the USA “out in the open for the public to see” on airplanes, public beaches, hotel lobbies, restaurants or courtrooms
Acceptable: Breast feeding anywhere else in the world

Unacceptable: Naked breasts at the beach
Acceptable: Naked breasts at the beach in deeply Catholic Italy, Spain, France…

Unacceptable: Naked breasts on broadcast TV
Acceptable: Naked breasts on any cable channel

Unacceptable: Naked breasts on magazine covers on sale
Acceptable: Google image search, any Google search, with the word breast in the search line

Unacceptable: Sexting images of breasts to your lover
Acceptable: Private printed images of you topless sent to your lover

Unacceptable: Beach pictures of topless celebrities
Acceptable: Topless celebrities on a public beach

And so on.
Years ago the state broadcaster in Holland realized that the creative work of television producers was being hampered with a puritanical outlook on nudity. So they decided to help the public get over their fear of nude human body parts by staging a special program, announced to great fanfare, in which a woman, completely naked, would appear at 8 pm on public broadcast television. Sure enough, on a Thursday, the show started and there was a stage empty except for a high stool. On walked a completely nude woman who proceeded to sit and occasionally move around for 20 minutes. Then the show ended. The following week they repeated the program with a nude man.
By defusing the titillation of seeing an unclothed human body, one can only be left with the realization that, actually, humans are basically all the same. Nudity is not pornography. Pornography’s purpose is to entice and enflame. Nudity is natural. Sure it has its place, but at some point intelligent people across our nation have to get over the confusion between naked breasts and sexual enticement.
As our great friend and master photographer Lucien Clergue once said, “Dirty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Not to be missed http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm...

Not to be missed

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=15-P13-00006&segmentID=6

50 posts!

50 posts!

Staying Alive: What’s $1,000 Worth To You?

$1,000 dollars. That’s a lot of money, right? Well, actually it’s a bargain if it saves the life and health of the people you love.

With $1,000 you can buy a really big TV screen. That’ll give you hours of pleasure. It’ll last about 5 years and need replacing (the connections break easily). So you’ll spend $200 a year budgeting for a new one, plus the $200 (40 hours of viewing per week) a year for electricity, plus the cable costs, or satellite… But imagine if you were asked: Would you prefer a new larger TV or keep your loved ones safe?

With $1,000 you can buy 83 pizzas for delivery and then spend another $1,000 per year on the cost of the gym to work off those extra pounds. And what if I asked you if you would prefer, instead of putting your health at risk and the health of your loved ones, you could spend that money to prevent being hospitalized?

With $1,000 you can buy 10 pairs of new shoes. Or perhaps you would prefer 5 dresses. Or perhaps 40 items of make-up, lotions or cosmetics? How about 5 visits to the hair dresser? Or maybe 10 family trips to the movies? Or perhaps 5 baseball tickets to see the Yankees or Mets? Or maybe 5 tickets way up in the bleachers at a professional football or basketball game?

Are any of these worth more than the safety and health of your family? Really?
And yet you, yes you, probably never stopped to think that you are putting your family in danger every year during late fall and winter. Let me explain…

Tires, car tires, come in different types of rubber. Some are hard for hot weather, some are medium soft for so-called “all weather” conditions and some are super soft, sticky rubber for winter. “All weather” tires are marginal at best in the winter. “All weather does not mean snow and ice. It means rain or shine. For Ice (you need sticky rubber, the more sticky the better), for snow (you need more aggressive tread), and for slush over ice (you desperately need the stickiest rubber) – these all require rubber winter tires built, designed, made to serve you and your car’s safety in freezing cold and dangerous conditions. Here’s the truth: In winter all non-winter tires are unsafe.

What’s the cost? Go online to any of the largest tire dealers. Buy a set of 5 winter tires plus an extra set of cheap rims. They will arrive UPS, pre-balanced with wheel nuts. It will take you under an hour to swap all five. Cost? About $1,000 delivered.

And if you are like most of us, your winter driving mileage is less than summer, so they will probably last you 5 years. That’s $200 a year.

Aren’t your loved ones worth $200 a year? Still in doubt? Find someone who has had a car accident. Ask them. It will open your eyes and change your priorities.