Thoughtful Roger Ebert excerpt on death

Roger Ebert, film critic

"I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. I am grateful for the gifts of intelligence, love, wonder and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.

Still, illness led me resolutely toward the contemplation of death. That led me to the subject of evolution, that most consoling of all the sciences, and I became engulfed on my blog in unforeseen discussions about God, the afterlife, religion, theory of evolution, intelligent design, reincarnation, the nature of reality, what came before the big bang, what waits after the end, the nature of intelligence, the reality of the self, death, death, death.

Many readers have informed me that it is a tragic and dreary business to go into death without faith. I don’t feel that way. “Faith” is neutral. All depends on what is believed in. I have no desire to live forever. The concept frightens me. I am 69, have had cancer, will die sooner than most of those reading this. That is in the nature of things. In my plans for life after death, I say, again with Whitman:

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,

If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

And with Will, the brother in Saul Bellow’s 'Herzog,' I say, 'Look for me in the weather reports.'

One of these days I will encounter what Henry James called on his deathbed “the distinguished thing.” I will not be conscious of the moment of passing."

Someday I will no longer call out, and there will be no heartbeat. I will be dead. What happens then? From my point of view, nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the same, as I wrote to Monica Eng, whom I have known since she was six, “You’d better cry at my memorial service.” I correspond with a dear friend, the wise and gentle Australian director Paul Cox. Our subject sometimes turns to death. In 2010 he came very close to dying before receiving a liver transplant. In 1988 he made a documentary named 'Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent van Gogh.'  Paul told me that in those days, Vincent wrote:

Looking at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream over the black dots representing towns and villages on a map.

Why, I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France?

Just as we take a train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star. We cannot get to a star while we are alive any more than we can take the train when we are dead. So to me it seems possible that cholera, tuberculosis and cancer are the celestial means of locomotion. Just as steamboats, buses and railways are the terrestrial means.

To die quietly of old age would be to go there on foot."

Nostalgia

It snows outside. The house is almost quiet except for soft whispers of the fire in the fireplace. For a while I sat in silence watching the snow outside the window gently falls onto the ground... I started and listened to  the sensual music of Dusty Springfield then Marianne Faithful... "If you go away", "You don't have to say you love me"  Dusty Springfield then Marianne Faithful's "As tears go by" brought much nostalgia; a gentle sadness came to me.

10am. Watched the rituals of the Catholic Church Conclave. It is filled with solemnity, unworldly beauty, ancient process, music and prayers in Latin. An incredibly picturesque pageantry with colorful Swiss guards, Michelangelo magnificent frescos in the Sistine Chapel.  No woman, though.

For a happier life

Yesterday evening we saw “Happiness”, an excellent PBS special.

Dr. Tal Ben Shabar is a Harvard professor teaching class about happiness. His thesis of ingredients for a happy life includes:

Simplification of life. The many choices that we have bring confusion and chaos. He proposes that we ought to simplify our life with simple pleasures; perform less multi-tasking activities; take time out to recover from stress.

Positive acceptance. This is not passivity. Positive acceptance means to make choice based upon available information; learning from mistakes and move on.

Exercise. Referenced many medical studies, Tal Ben Shabar posits that regular physical exercise reduces stress, disease risks, … which will lead to a happier, healthier life.

Happiness can be learned.

Mindful meditation. The simplest daily exercise is the deep breathing method. More advanced mindful meditation will further relaxation, stress-reduction and many other benefits.

Focus on the positives. An attitude of gratitude concentrating upon all the good things in our life is an important element for a happy life.

Tal Ben Shabar has written several best-sellers including “Happier” and “Pursuit of Perfect”.

Books...

I have been reading quite a bit. I have a Nook and a Kindle Fire
so it's quite handy to take books with us while traveling. The most 
recent books I enjoy are:

1. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson: A compelling story of a complex 
    human being.

2. "The Swerve: How the World Became Modern" by Stephen Greenblatt:
    An amazing story-telling of Western civilization to the Renaissance
    and Enlightenment.

3. "Knocking on Heaven's Door: How physics and Scientific Thinking illuminate
     the Universe and Modern World" by Lisa Randall. An explanation of
     the complex universe [or multi-verse] we live in from quantum physics
     to the cosmos. Highly recommended.


I really enjoy the free time to re-educate myself with books,
Netflix, magazines, newspapers, online Wikipedia,...

The difference I find that books [those I mentioned before] are much
more complex and are difficult to present in a different media such as
TV. I don't deny the power of visual presentations; we were quite
impressed with Netflix's "Downton Abbey" series and other
science programs from PBS. "Mao's last dancer" movie on Netflix
was also quite a powerful message. But it is not easy to present
ideas from "The Swerve" or Lisa Randall's "Touching Heaven's..."
books in video format.

An agnostic Epicurean

Many believe organized religions have done much more harm throughout history
than good. One just has to be reminded of four centuries of the
Catholic Church's savage Medieval Inquisition and its ill-gotten wealth to this day, the brutal
oppression of women and people of other faith by Islam and the ludicrous
promise - preventing oppressed, poor, less educated/fortunate people to make
change to their present life - of the "next life" by Buddhism. Or their Hindu
misfortune is due to their previous life's bad Karma. In addition, many core
tenets of religious belief systems fail utterly under scientific and
philosophical examinations.

There are many psychological studies showing that reincarnation and stories
of past life are just "false memories". At worst, the invented
reincarnation stories - mostly from poor, less educated communities in India - are scams allowing children of the poorer Hindu caste to gain entrance into the higher
caste. [Note: boys claimed to be the reincarnated [dead] husband of wealthy land-owner's
daughter. In fact, the barbaric practice to burn alive widows came from the
needs to preserve family's wealth.]

A writer in our today's local newspaper explains himself very well below.

"Consider Russell's Teapot, an idea first proposed by Bertrand
Russell, who postulated that if he were to claim that a teapot were orbiting the sun somewhere
between Earth and Mars, the burden of proof of the teapot's existence would be his, not those who doubted his claim. I assume that most people who believe in God would
claim that a teapot orbiting the sun was preposterous, and they wouldn't feel
obligated in any way to prove that it didn't exist.

Personally I think a teapot orbiting the sun is highly unlikely, but
not impossible. It doesn't violate any laws of physics that I am aware of. I also
don't believe in the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, although I concede that there might be one chance in a quadrillion that they exist."

Words of [some] wisdom

1. Never say ‘I am aged': There are three ages, chronological, biological, and psychological. The first is calculated based on our date of birth; the second is determined by the health conditions and the third is how old you feel you are. While we don't have control over the first, we can take care of our health with good diet, exercise and a cheerful attitude. A positive attitude and optimistic thinking can reverse the third age. 2. Health is wealth: If you really love your kids and kin, taking care of yourself and your health should be your priority. Thus, you will not be a burden to them. Have an annual health check-up and take the prescribed medicines regularly. Do take health insurance cover. 3. Money is important: Money is essential for meeting the basic necessities of life, keeping good health andearning family respect and security. Don't spend beyond your means even for your children. You have lived for them all through and it is time you enjoyed a harmonious life with your spouse. If your children are grateful and they take care of you, you are blessed.But never take it for granted. 4. Relaxation and recreation: The most relaxing and recreating forces are a healthy attitude, good sleep, music and laughter. Have faith, learn to sleep well, love good music and see the funny side of life. 5. Time is precious: It is almost like holding a horse's reins. When they are in your hands, you can control them. Imagine that every day you are born again. Yesterday is a cancelled cheque. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is ready cash — use it profitably. Live this moment. 6. Change is the only permanent thing: We should accept change — it is inevitable. The only way to make sense out of change is to join the dance. Change has brought about many pleasant things. We should be happy that our children are blessed. 7. Enlightened selfishness: All of us are basically selfish. Whatever we do, we expect something in return. We should definitely be grateful to those who stood by us. But our focus should be on the internal satisfaction and happiness we derive by doing good to others, without expecting anything in return. 8. Forget and forgive: Don't be bothered too much about others' mistakes. We are not spiritual enough to show our other cheek when we are slapped in one. But for the sake of our own health and happiness, let us forgive and forget them. Otherwise, we will be only increasing our BP. 9. Everything has a reason. A purpose: Take life as it comes. Accept yourself as you are and also accept others for what they are. Everybody is unique and right in his own way. \ 10. Overcome the fear of death: We all know that one day we have to leave this world. Still we are afraid of death. We think that our spouse and children will be unable to withstand our loss. But the truth is no one is going to die for you; they may be depressed for some time. Time heals everything and they will carry on.

Regardless How Far The Journey Is OR How Capable We Are, We Do Our Best To Reach Our Goal. This Is Perseverance At Its Best ...—Anonymous

Re: Syria and the Middle East

Syria: It is quite complicated. Look at Egypt now.
The Islamists and radicals are taking over the country.
It is reported that many intellectuals - many of whom
were in the Arab Spring front line hoping for democracy -
are very discouraged and wanting to emigrate to
the US and other countries. Unfortunately, the news from
Syria is not all good. The Arab unrest there may unleash
a theocratic tyranny/dictatorship worse than Bashar al-Assad.

US/France/GB is turning their back on someone whom
they've been courting for years. At the same time, Russia
is drawing a line in the sand against the West by continuing
supporting al-Assad. Iran is arming to the teeth including
possible nuclear weapon development,
playing chicken with our Navy and threatens the
Strait of Hormuz.

It'll be a rough ride for all of us...

On reading Epicurus

"Don’t fear god,

Don’t worry about death;

What is good is easy to get, and

What is terrible is easy to endure."

Philodemus, Greek Epicurean philosopher

Epicureanism

Epicurus (341 BCE - 270 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, raised on Samos then returned to Athens in 307 BCE to practice philosophy and developed a school of philosophy called Epicureanism. He lived very simply and frugally. In many letters throughout his life, he himself said that he was quite content with just water and simple bread and lots of friends and expressed his gratitude to his parents, kindness to his brothers, and gentle kindness to all around him.

He wrote that there is nothing fearful in the absence of life. So death, the most frightening of bad things, is nothing to us; since when we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist. Therefore, it is relevant neither to the living nor to the dead, since it does not affect the former, and the latter do not exist. Epicurus wrote that "... a wise man neither rejects life nor fears death. For living does not offend him, nor does he believe not living to be something bad. And just as he does not unconditionally choose the largest amount of food but the most pleasant food, so he savors not the longest time but the most pleasant."

Epicurus, by his personal example and by his teaching and a lifetime of serenity and wisdom, revealed the path to redemption from unhappiness. He was revered by his followers as a divine sage who had answers to all the important questions of life. What attracted converts was the prospect of personal happiness, for which Epicurus offered clear philosophical advice. The fundamental obstacle to happiness, says Epicurus, is anxiety. No matter how rich or famous you are, you won’t be happy if you’re anxious to be richer or more famous. No matter how good your health is, you won’t be happy if you’re anxious about getting sick. You can’t be happy in this life if you’re worried about the next life. You can’t be happy as a human being if you’re worried about being punished or victimized by powerful divine beings. But you can be happy if you believe in the four basic truths of Epicureanism: there are no divine beings which threaten us; there is no next life; what we actually need is easy to get; what makes us suffer is easy to put up with.

Illness and pain are disagreeable, but nature has so constituted us that we need not suffer very much from them. Sickness is either brief or chronic, and either mild or intense, but discomfort that is both chronic and intense is very unusual; so there is no need to be concerned about the prospect of suffering. Know the limits of what you need, recognize the limits of what your body is likely to suffer, and enjoy the confidence that your life will be overwhelmingly pleasant, unless you poison it with anxiety. “Don’t worry about death.” While you are alive, you don’t have to deal with being dead, but when you are dead you don’t have to deal with it either, because you aren’t there to deal with it. “Death is nothing to us,” as Epicurus puts it, for “when we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist.”

Worrying about death casts a general pall over the experience of living, either because people expect to exist after their deaths and are humbled and terrified into ingratiating themselves with the gods, who might well punish them for their misdeeds, or else because they are saddened and terrified by the prospect of not existing after their deaths. But there are no gods which threaten us, and, even if there were, we would not be there to be punished. Our souls are flimsy things which are dissipated when we die, and even if the stuff of which they were made were to survive intact, that would be nothing to us, because what matters to us is the continuity of our experience, which is severed by the parting of body and soul. It is not sensible to be afraid of ceasing to exist, since you already know what it is like not to exist; consider any time before your birth—was it disagreeable not to exist? And if there is nothing bad about not existing, then there is nothing bad for your friend when he ceases to exist, nor is there anything bad for you about being fated to cease to exist. It is a confusion to be worried by your mortality, and it is an ingratitude to resent the limitations of life, like some greedy dinner guest who expects an indefinite number of courses and refuses to leave the table.

“What’s good is easy to get.” We need food, water, shelter from the elements, and safety from hostile animals and people. All these things lie ready to hand and can be acquired with little effort or money. We don’t need extravagant foods, palaces, or bodyguards, which are expensive and difficult to acquire and keep. People who want more than they need are making a fundamental mistake, a mistake that reduces their chances of being satisfied and causes needless anxiety.

The discipline of Epicurean philosophy enables its followers to recognize how little they actually need, to enjoy possessing it, and to enjoy the confidence that they will continue to possess it. On the other hand, there is no reason not to enjoy occasional luxuries, if they happen to be easily available. There is nothing wrong with luxury in itself, but any dependence on luxuries is harmful to our happiness, as is every desire for unnecessary things.

To say that life is free is not to say that we don’t need to observe any moral constraints. It is a very bad plan to cheat on your friends or assault people in the street or do anything else that would cause you to worry about their reactions. Why is this a bad plan? Not because god has decreed that such things are ‘immoral’, but because it is stupid to do anything that would cause you to worry about anything.

One of the remarkable features of Epicurus’ philosophy is that it can be understood at several levels of subtlety. You don’t need to be a philosophical genius to grasp the main points, which is why Epicurus coined slogans and maxims for ordinary people to memorize, to help them relieve their anxiety whenever it might arise.

Edited excerpts from "The Epicurus Reader" by D.S. Hutchinson

Interesting tidbits on intelligence and other subjects

From Scientific American online magazine, June 2011:

"Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Spanish Nobel-winning biologist who mapped the neural anatomy of insects in the decades before World War I, likened the minute circuitry of their vision-processing neurons to an exquisite pocket watch. He likened that of mammals, by comparison, to a hollow-chested grandfather clock. Indeed, it is humbling to think that a honeybee, with its milligram-size brain, can perform tasks such as navigating mazes and landscapes on a par with mammals. A honeybee may be limited by having comparatively few neurons, but it surely seems to squeeze everything it can out of them.

At the other extreme, an elephant, with its five-million-fold larger brain, suffers the inefficiencies of a sprawling Mesopotamian empire. Signals take more than 100 times longer to travel between opposite sides of its brain—and also from its brain to its foot, forcing the beast to rely less on reflexes, to move more slowly, and to squander precious brain resources on planning each step.

• Human intelligence may be close to its evolutionary limit. Various lines of research suggest that most of the tweaks that could make us smarter would hit limits set by the laws of physics.
• Brain size, for instance, helps up to a point but carries diminishing returns: brains become energy-hungry and slow. Better “wiring” across the brain also would consume energy and take up a disproportionate amount of space.
• Making wires thinner would hit thermodynamic limitations similar to those that affect transistors in computer chips: communication would get noisy.
• Humans, however, might still achieve higher intelligence collectively. And technology, from writing to the Internet, enables us to expand our mind outside the confines of our body."

How Simple Photos Could Be Used as a Test for a Conscious Machine [Contest]

Join Scientific American's contest to show why conscious humans best unconscious computers and win a recently authored book by renowned neuroscientist Christof Koch

By Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi | Monday, June 13, 2011 | 14

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?: To judge that this image is incorrect, a machine would need to be conscious of many things about the world (unless programmed for just such a photograph). Image: Geof Kern

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The mystery of human consciousness appears routinely as one of the greatest science problems of all time. One way to get a grip on this seemingly ineffable property would be to build a conscious machine. It may be many years before that happens. But the overriding question, when someone does try, will be: how will we know whether that machine is really conscious—and not merely faking it?

Probing a machine for consciousness need not require an elaborate mathematical construct. In fact, it might derive from something as simple as a street photo snapped with a cell phone camera, or you could use photo editing software to devise an image that just about any human would recognize is irrational or nonsensical, but that even today’s smartest computers might pass over as reasonable.

With that in mind, Scientific American invites you to create a photo (or two) for our Great Consciousness Contest that is based on a challenge set out by two leading neuroscientists, Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi, in the magazine’s June issue. The contest is looking for photos or images that depict a nonsensical scenario that could be perceived as sensible by any existing machine that attempts to imitate the conscious reasoning abilities of a human.

The authors define consciousness here as an ability to understand whether a photograph depicts an image that makes sense based on knowledge of the world that most people share—general knowledge that no present-day computer is capable of storing and processing in the way people do. A person, for instance, knows that a keyboard belongs in front of a computer screen, whereas a potted plant in that spot does not.

A computer might be able to win at Jeopardy, but it doesn’t have the basic common sense to understand that something is just plain wrong with the off-kilter juxtaposition of an iMac paired with a geranium. Koch and Tononi describe similar examples in their article, "A Test for Consciousness," available to readers free of charge. Even a six-year old, for instance, can pinpoint the fundamental improbability of an ice skater on the rug in the living room, a transparent cow or a cat chasing a dog. Yet a computer doesn’t "know” these things about the world.

These absurd yet simple images devised by the authors to illustrate this distinction between conscious human and unconscious computer led us to the idea of a contest in which readers could contribute their own examples of pictures that might fool a machine. Entries of digital images that display illogical imagery similar to what is described above can be submitted to ScientificAmerican.com for judging by Koch and Tononi and Scientific American editors (see the rules below). Koch and Tononi are the judges because unfortunately a real machine that could be used to carry out such a contest does not yet exist.

Princess Mediterranean Cruise

Notes to a friend on her upcoming trip of a same cruise.

I went back looking at my notes re. our Princess Mediterranean Cruise in 2008. Hopefully, some of this may be helpful on your upcoming trip.

Our trip started in Barcelona, Spain on Friday September 19, 2008 and ended in Venice, Italy on Oct 3, 2008. We flew home from Venice to Denver via Munich, Washing Dulles airport. The ports we visited were: Barcelona - Spain, Marseille - France, Livorno - Italy, Civitavecchia - Italy, Naples - Italy, Mykonos - Greece, Istanbul - Turkey, Kusadasi - Turkey, Athens - Greece, and Venice - Italy.

1. General suggestions: There will be lots of walking so comfortable shoes, socks, clothes are recommended. Long sleeve shirts, head scarf, long pants are required to visit St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome and mosques, etc, ... in Istanbul. Bring some moleskin if long walks irritate your feet. A pouch with lanyard to keep passport, money inside shirt would deter most pickpockets. A hat, sun screen, sun glasses would also be helpful. It should be noted that it can get hot in the Mediterranean countries in summer. I also suggest you exchange a couple hundred US dollars to Euros at Las Vegas bank before leaving since the exchange rate and fees overseas and on ship can be more expensive.

If you can arrive in Barcelona a day ahead of the departure it would be nice to look up places to stay in Barcelona in travel books - Barnes and Nobles - by Rick Steeves or Lonely Planet. These books list current information re. recommended places to stay and cost. Since you'll be outside a lot there is no need to stay at an expensive hotel.

On your departure package from Princess Cruises you should have details re. departure location. Use Google Translate to translate it to Spanish and print it out: we nearly got lost from our Barcelona hotel to the ship embarkation location since the taxi driver did not speak English nor knew the area well.

There were some rough seas from Naples to Mykonos and from Athens to Venice. If you get sea-sick easily bring some medication/patch for it. There will be lots of English speakers around to help out. Pick-pockets and small time thieves have been known to pretend to help tourists take their pictures and run away with their camera. Bring several camera memory cards to take lots of pictures. Don't forget to bring the camera's charger. If necessary, you should call your cell phone company to see if there is a limited package for international calls.

Food costs in Europe can be quite expensive: the sit-down price is different from the take-out. We took fruits and non-perishable muffins, cheese from the ship with us when we went out. A small back-pack is also recommended for food, maps, note book, and camera.

I also recommend to Google the places that you will be visiting ahead of time to read about what to see, history, .. to put everything you'll see in a good context.

2. Places to see:

Barcelona, Spain: It is famous as the Gothic center of Spanish Catalan. The most well-known artist is Antoni Gaudi. His works are all over the city. the most famous one is the on-going construction of the Sagrada Familia (the Church of the Holy Family). It is a must see. The city is easy to walk around. There are many shops, stores and the foods were quite reasonably-priced and good. If you can, please walk down the famous La Rambla in central Barcelona.

Marseille, France: We did purchase some excursions with Princess before leaving home. In Marseille we went on a tour to charming Provence. Walking around Provence and its market place was fun.

In Livorno, Italy the ship arrived in port at 7:00am and left port at 6:30pm. It was enough time for a trip to Florence [Firenze in Italian]. This is a must see. The Firenze Cathedral called il Duomo is an incredible place to visit. Pay several euros to climb the Campanile which is a structure attached to il Duomo: you'll never regret it. Also please visit the world-famous bridge Ponte Vecchio which was so beautiful that Hitler's generals refused to blow it up during WW II retreat. All are within walking distance to the Piazza delle Signoria which has a replica of Michelangelo's David. Make sure to enjoy some of Firenze famous gelato!

In Civitavecchia, Italy the ship arrived in port at 7:00am and departed at 6:30pm. It was enough time for an excursion to Rome. I would suggest to pay for the Rome excursion since it would expedite entrance to the Vatican, Sistine Chapel instead of long wait. The most famous sites you must [sorry about this emphasis!] see are the Colosseum, the Trevis Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and of course St. Peter's Basilica which is the Vatican itself.

In Naples, we took the high speed hydrofoil to Capri. Immediately we purchased a funicular [hillside tram] to go up to the Capri town. It was a beautiful place to stroll and to take pictures. We did not have time to see the famous Blue Grotto.

Mykonos, Greece: we walked from the ship to town. It was a pleasant long walk several miles. However, I would recommend to take the bus there. There are lots of beautiful island pedestrian paths all over the town. Buy souvenirs but make sure to bargain!!

Istanbul, Turkey: there were so many famous places to see there. We did not see the Topkapi Palace nor the Hagia Sophia and regret it. We went to the Blue Mosque which was very crowded. Women are required to have a head scarf. Plastic bags were freely given to put our shoes inside. It was a good visit but not great. You will be greeted by friendly merchants bringing you to their stores which are also their houses trying to sell you Turkish rugs. We were charmed by two brothers inviting us to visit the massive and beautiful basement floor of their home. Unless one knows much about rugs I'd not recommend to buy anything. Try some of their foods sold in stores along many streets nearby. We went to the underground Istanbul Cistern and was amazed by the water aqueduct system.

Kusadasi, Turkey: we took the Princess excursion to Ephesus. It was spectacular!! The second stop of the same excursion was the home purportedly where Mary, mother of Jesus lived on her final years was good. I bargained and paid 1 Euro [the owner wanted 3 Euros] to have our picture taken leaning on a Turkish camel. It was hot so take some water with you.

Athens, Greece: we hiked the long walk to the Acropolis. It is an incredible site to see. Again, it was very hot and a somewhat arduous hike so bring lots of water. Many pedestrian-only marketplaces had great food, drinks and at reasonable prices. There were also lots of stores selling souvenirs. Again, bargain away.

Venice, Italy: Make sure to be on the top deck of the ship when it enters Venice. It was very beautiful and [hopefully] the ship captain will play Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli's "Con te Partiro" (Time to say good-bye). You'll never forget it. You'll take the water bus (very inexpensive) from ship port to the Piazza San Marco! It is an unbelievable sight to marvel. Walk. Do not pay big bucks for the gondola rides. The food was spectacular. Get lost in the labyrinth of Venice and you'll love it.

Colorado Senate Bill 126

I oppose and hope that Colorado Senate rejects SB 126 granting illegal immigrants the education privilege to pay in-state college/university tuition.

This bill, if passed, will be a new, added incentive for illegal immigration to our state. It will unfairly deny the much lower resident tuition to qualified students from outside of Colorado. Or to those left or leaving Colorado with their divorced parents for out-of-state jobs. In addition, there are possible several issues regarding the legality of this bill granting in-state tuition to children of federal immigration law-breakers.

Current Colorado severe fiscal constraint demands prudent and careful long-term control and management of resources. Colorado Senate Bill 126 will directly increase the budgetary deficit due to the financial subsidy to each in-state tuition-paying student.

Egypt uprising

Feb 11, 2011. 

Almost to the day in 1979 the Iranian revolution took place. The Shah of Iran was overthrown. The very impressive military machinery was overpowered by Ayatollah Khomeini returning from France. And the rest is history: a theocratic dictatorship in Iran ever since. It is an irony that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i came out - on the same side with the USA - supporting the Egyptian revolution! Quick notes: 

1. Unthinkable events [the overthrow of the Saudi Royal family, a nuclear war/exchange, ...] are not as unthinkable as we'd like to believe. The connectedness of global events, news, telecommunications and the increasing power of a group of common individuals or people can accelerate events. 

2. Many traditional intelligence gathering apparatus have not been successful to predict/monitor/understand this new type of political changes/upheavals. 

3. The concern of the USA's long time allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia, ..) due to its fickle and "opportunistic" foreign policy will further exasperated. 

4. Powerful, international news organizations such as CNN breathlessly makes news instead of reporting it. Their reporters seem so naive and optimistic for a democratic Egypt after the revolution. The instability and risk of major war/problems for the Middle East, our allies and our national interest are very real and sobering. 

5. The first democratic election in Egypt may be its only and last one similar to what happened in Hamas-controlled areas or World War II Nazi election.

On reading "A mathematician plays the stock market" by John Paulos

I am reading an interesting book "A mathematician plays the stock market" by John Allen Paulos. Paulos, a Temple University mathematics professor is the author of several best sellers including "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences", "Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man", "Irreligion: A Mathematician explains why the arguments for God just don't add up".

Here are some nuggets of wisdom I gleaned from "A mathematician plays the stock market".

"Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security." Paulos did not tell us not to invest in the stock market. He cautioned us about misunderstanding of applying mathematics to the stock market and investing. His humorous, interesting book includes explanation of scams, psychological blindness such as confirmation bias, and examples of investment mathematics mistakes and analyses. He admits to losing a bit of money himself during the dot-com boom in early 2000.

1. Psychological blindness. Paulos quoted John Maynard Keynes who likened the position of short-term stock market investors picking five prettiest out of hundred contestants in a newspaper. The rewards go to folks who correctly pick the contestants whom they think are most likely to be picked by other readers, and the other readers must try to do the same. This is what Paulos distinguishes between "Being right versus Being right about the Market". He then gave several interesting examples of mathematics involving game theory.

Other psychological blindness include emotional overreactions - the irrational exuberance- and despair. Paulos cited unfounded financial hype and unrealistic "price targets" which influence investors by putting an "anchoring effect" number to stock price.

2. The incoherent market pundits/analysts, blog and chat room noises. Many seemingly technical analyses are fundamentally wrong. There have been data mining and faulty attempts to discover investment scheme that supposedly worked in the past. An exhaustive search of the economic data on a United Nations CD-ROM in the mid-90s found the best predictor of the value of the S&P 500 stock index was - drum roll here - butter production in Bangladesh. He reminds us of the mathematically ignorant attempt to "decode" the Bible hidden codes to show that the September 11, 2001 event was "prophesied".

Paulos, through extensive but easy to follow mathematic examples in several chapters gave strong evidence that the technical analysis of trends, cycles, supporting and resistance stock price levels, waves, moving average are ridiculous and quasi-mathematical which seldom hangs together as a coherent theory. Many of current fads are just rehash of past failed theories; the Elliot wave theory to predict the behavior of stocks was based upon the Fibonacci number sequence. He boo-booed the claim that folks have made good money using the rules of technical analysis by saying that some other folks also make money in the stock market using strategies involving tea leaves and sun-spots!

Matterhorn and UnBroken

Just finished "Matterhorn: A novel of the Vietnam War" by Karl Marlantes and "Unbroken: a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand. Felt so drained, shocked and sad.

Happiness project

I've been reading "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I spent a year Trying to ..." by Gretchen Rubin. It is quite an interesting book. The eBook looks great on the iPad using B&N app. 

On sheep, wolves and Sheepdogs

A friend sent me the following essay. It is a long but worth reading. 

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs by LTC (RET) Dave Grossman 

03/02/2010 Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington Student Senate Leader, Jill Edwards. Jill Edwards is one of the students at the University of Washington who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington because she does not think those who serve in the U.S. Armed services are good role models. 

I think that this response is an excellent and thought provoking response. 

General Dula is a Retired Air Force Lt Gen (3 Star Gen). Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington student senate leader. 

"To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW) 

Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs 

Miss Edwards, I read of your 'student activity' regarding the proposed memorial to Col Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks like me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naïveté. It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are. Please take a couple of minutes to read the following. And be grateful for the thousands - - millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.

Brett DulaSheepdog, retired  

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,Ph.D., author of "On Killing." 

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending?What is worth dying for?What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. 

Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million. Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. 

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators. "Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial. "Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." 

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools. 

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial. The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. 

The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa." Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. 

 The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? 

Remember how many times you heard the word hero? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones. 

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into "warriorhood", you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself. Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs. 

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground. 

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke -- Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. 

If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door. For example, many police officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying a weapon. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones. 

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?" Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. 

Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?" It is denial that turns people into sheep. 

Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up. Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth. Gavin de Becker puts it like this in "Fear Less", his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. 

For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling." Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa." 

 This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from "sheephood" and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth."

Gout is gone

It took almost three weeks with several days of Colchicine and Advil to make the gout go away. I will try to adhere to a better diet to minimize flare ups.
...

I saw a Joan Baez special on PBS yesterday evening and was quite impressed.
She has been a courageous woman with a very strong sense of social
justice. She also was a very attractive lady with beautiful voice and a talented guitar player. Her romantic songs of a bygone past brought me joyful sadness. Old pictures of the Vietnam war, marches in the South with Martin Luther King, Sarajevo, ... and Joan Baez's songs brought me the melancholy nostalgia of a time, place I thought has long forgotten.

Gout

Gout has flared up the last several days. It started on the left toe joint and later around ankle. I've been taking Advil to reduce the pain and swelling. I have a low fever, headache and feel a sense of helplessness walking with severe pain around the house on crutches. It has not been fun.

Happiness

Yesterday evening we saw “Happiness”, an excellent PBS special.

Dr. Tal Ben Shabar is a Harvard professor teaching class about happiness. His thesis of ingredients for a happy life includes:

1. Simplification of life. The many choices that we have bring confusion and chaos. He proposes that we ought to simplify our life with simple pleasures; perform less multi-tasking activities; take time out to recover from stress.

2. Positive acceptance. This is not passivity. Positive acceptance means to make choice based upon available information; learning from mistakes and move on.

3. Exercise. Referenced many medical studies, Tal Ben Shabar posits that regular physical exercise reduces stress, disease risks, … which will lead to a happier, healthier life.

4. Happiness can be learned.

5. Mindful meditation. The simplest daily exercise is the deep breathing method. More advanced mindful meditation will further relaxation, stress-reduction and many other benefits.

6. Focus on the positives. An attitude of gratitude concentrating upon all the good things in our life is an important element for a happy life.

Tal Ben Shabar has written several best-sellers including “Happier” and “Pursuit of Perfect”.

Pan's Labyrinth - the Movie

We saw it yesterday eve. I was absolutely mesmerized and amazed
by the many layers of interpretation of reality and un-reality, fantasy and religiosity,
dream vs. life, good vs evil... Especially, when all these layers are seamlessly interwoven into great story-telling with many subplots.
The last scene when Ofelia was killed is the most astounding: it brings up the historical context of the Spanish Civil War, the alliance of General F. Franco's dictatorship and the Catholic Church against the International Brigades. Her death and the afterlife sequence is the memorial of the deaths of many innocents during the War and the implication of martyrdom which ironically is on the side of the Church opponents; at the same time the evil of the Captain is explainable: he had a job to do and he could not see the faun Ofelia conversing with and I am sure that he believes that she was possessed and worse.

It was an incredible movie.