Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

     Intelligence (in teľ i jәns), n. Capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meaning, etc. Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary.      According to the New York Post of March 29, 2011, “Man again proved no match for machine yesterday during a much-hyped "Jeopardy!" challenge - with Watson, IBM's latest and greatest in artificial intelligence, crushing its two human opponents.”      For humans Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, Jeopardy! is a souped-up version of Trivial Pursuit, the popular game of the 1980s. The two humans did not lack the storehouse of trivia necessary to beat the machine; their nervous systems simply could not compete with the electronic speed of the computer.      In the words of David G. Myers, Psychology 4th Edition .New York:Worth Publishers Inc,1995: 43: “Depending on the type of ...

     I have devoted several blog entries to indicating how our economic system moves money from the not-so-deep pockets to the very-deep-pockets of our society. Today I am going to list the top ten corporations that donated to Republican candidates, and the top ten who gave to Democratic candidates. Amounts listed are in millions of dollars, and include donations to state candidates: Corporation Total Contribution Republican Recipients Perry Homes 12.24 11.13 TRT Holdings 5.26 5.26 Chartwell 3.34 3.30 Altria 3.14 2.07 Goldman Sachs 3.06 2.08 Bank of America 2.80 1.68 Koch Industries 2.52 2.27 Home Depot 1.53 1.04 Wells Fargo 1.72 1.13 Exxon Mobil 1.62 1.30 Totals 37....

     I received an email purporting to quote Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz. According to the email Ms. Lotz was speaking at a “Superintendent of Schools Seminar.” When she was asked what she thought was leading to the decay of morality and self-respect in the young students today, she supposedly replied, “...when the Courts [decided] to take God (Lord's Prayer) and respect for our Country (Pledge of Allegiance To Our Flag), and took down the symbol of our Country (picture of George Washington) out of the Classroom".      An exhaustive search failed to find any evidence of Ms. Lotz having spoken at such a seminar, nor could I verify that she had ever made such a statement. The closest I could find took place on CBS's “The Early Show” on September 13, 2001. Interviewer Jane Clayson asked, "I've heard people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how could God let this (the September 11 attack) happen? To that, ...

     Please take a good look at this list: 03/24/1998 Jonesboro, AR 5 11 04/20/1999 Littleton, CO 15 24 03/12/2005 Brookfield, WI 8 4 03/21/2005 Red Lake, MN 10 5 01/31/2006 Goleta, CA 7 1 10/02/2006 Nickel Mines, PA 5 5 02/12/2007 Salt Lake City, UT 5 4 04/16/2007 Blacksburg, VA 33 25 12/05/2007 Omaha, NE 9 4 02/07/2008 Kirkwood, MO 5 2 02/14/2008 Dekalb, IL 6 18 04/03/2009 Binghamton, NY 14 4 11/05/2009 Fort Hood, TX 13 30 01/07/2010 St. Louis, MO 4 5 01/08/2011 Tucson, AZ 6 14      This is a small sample of gun related massacres in recent years in the United States. The numbers in the two right hand columns refer to the number of dead and wounded.      In the Tucson shooting a United States Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was seriously wounded, along with 13 other innocent bystanders. A U.S. District judge, a community outreach director and a nine year old girl were among the six bystanders who were killed...

     In the first two and a half months of 2011 the world has experienced an unprecedented string of floods, earthquakes and a cataclysmic tsunami. Now man has added a major disaster of his own: nuclear meltdown. Because Japan has been through all of these calamities before, it is probably the best prepared nation in the world to withstand these events, but the results indicate that no matter how extensive the preparations, they can be overwhelmed by nature.      Of course, this does not mean that we should not prepare for unexpected disasters to the best of our ability. It does take, however, something we do not seem to possess: the will. Here is an example of where we stand in that department:      According to The Christian Science Monitor , the Obama administration had decided to run a simulated terrorist 'dirty bomb' attack on Las Vegas last May. The test was canceled after Senator Harry Reid (D, Nevada) objected, saying...

     ...but it is going to last a long time for the rest of us. In order to speed up the flow of assets from the bottom of the economic pyramid to the top, the rich have acquired the services of a powerful ally: the U.S. Supreme Court. Observe the following: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce       According to its web site, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “...is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations...As the voice of business, the Chamber's core purpose is to fight for free enterprise before Congress, the White House, regulatory agencies, the courts, the court of public opinion, and governments around the world.”      In view of that declaration, note the following from the Daily Kos of March 14, 2011: Carter G. Phillips, who often represents the chamber and has argu...

     A few weeks ago I heard a concert by the Artie Shaw Orchestra. Younger readers wil not be familiar with Artie, but he was a clarinetest, composer and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. At the height of his popularity he was reportedly making $60,000 per week, which was pretty good for those times. While I did see most of the popular bands of the 1940s, I never did get to see his, although I did hear him speak at a jazz festival about 25 years ago.      But I did listen to his records – in fact, I still do. And I am sure that 80% of that audience a few weeks ago also listened to his records, and according to a show of hands, a huge majority had actually heard him in person, and came to the concert because they liked his band. I know that is true of the 30 people in the group with which I attended.     And here is the surprise – most of the group did not enjoy the concert! The band played Artie's arrangements, and although ...

      ...but it is going to last a long time for the rest of us. There is one more activity which is going to further increase the flow of assets from the not-so-rich to the very rich. It is called high-frequency trading (HFT) or “black box trading.” In comparison to the outflow of jobs, government incentives and pension liabilities, it has received relatively little publicity, but it is a one-way conduit for the average small investor's assets.      HFT uses high-speed computers to analyze incoming data and to process a huge volume of transactions at very high speeds. In 2009 only 2% of the 20,000 equity trading firms used HFT, but they accounted for 73% of the volume of transactions.      HFT users are usually hedge funds, and compete primarily with each other. Generally they hold short-term positions in equities, options, futures and other items that pass through the markets in huge lots; thus they do not compete dire...