Social wreckage 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Chenyuan grew up under the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China. Social power is in the hands of government people who control the economy. Buying, selling and managing decisions are made by the socialist government, and total obedience is required. 

She says this kind of power always corrupts, that it inevitably produces abuse because no checks and balances are built into the system to restrain it. Government elites at every level use intimidation and threats to protect their power. Her father said they had to live like dogs with their tail tucked behind their legs. 

photo

But Chenyuan noticed a big social difference when she came to the U.S. in 1989. She saw courtesy and mutual respect between people, which she believes comes from a system that values human freedom.

She begs Americans to continue to choose freedom over socialism.

from The Stream

Social wreckage 1

At the age of ~4 years, she woke up one night to a loudspeaker commanding all adults to get dressed and come out to the public square. Her parents suddenly left her and she started screaming along with the other abandoned children. 

They came back the next day but she still feels the trauma decades later. Her family lived in just one small room, though her father was a professor, and she picked up their fear and uncertainty. They used extreme caution in words and actions because any misstep could bring catastrophe.

Chenyuan grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976) with an unfocused sense of dread that went beyond the authorities. They had to fear their neighbors because friends commonly reported friends to the government for favor and benefits.

China's authoritarian socialism ruined their economy by 1976. But Chenyuan's lived experience tells her that it also devastated human relationships.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Dumb thieves

Owner Annabelle Brett's phone sounded the alarm when her Tesla Model 3 was stolen from her garage early one morning as she was getting ready for work as a radio host in Australia. She kept her head, used her Tesla apps, and now has a great story.

She was able to track her Model 3 and, after calling police, follow it in a friend's car. Sentry Mode already had photos. “My phone app has the ability to slow down the car and also mess with it a bit, so I was able to put the windows down, beep the horn and basically screw with them as they were driving it,” explained Brett.

When the thieves knew they were beaten, they abandoned the car . . but left a driver license in it.

from Teslarati

Preferred 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Guidelines for construction of new federal buildings were set in 1961 by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. An optimal balance of environmental, societal and human benefits with cost is the goal. 

But maybe the 60-year-old guidelines should be updated. Americans don't like the almost exclusive modern, brutalist style that has dominated federal architecture for decades. A recent  executive order proposed that new federal office buildings in Washington, D.C., be of classical design.

American Institute of Architects objected to the proposed change, even though its own 2007 poll showed that Americans would enjoy it. 

It's time for the architectural elites to let the people's sense of architectural style be reflected in their own government buildings.

Preferred 1

The Harris Poll surveyed 2,000 Americans to find out whether they prefer modern or traditional architectural designs for federal buildings. The results were the same for similar surveys in the past. A comparison example is below:

If you prefer the National Archives Building on the right, you have lots of company: four out of five picked it. Overall, abut 72% of all people surveyed preferred classical or traditional to a modern style. That generally held true across political parties, genders, incomes, races, etc. 

So, most federal buildings must be in the classical/traditional style since it's clear that the people like that, right? No. Of the 78 federal buildings constructed since 1994, 72 of them were modern and only 6 traditional.  Explain that.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Taken 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

According to Rabbi Cooper and his co-author, the extremists are a small segment of the huge tribe of seventeen million Fulani. There were at least 47 attacks on churches or Christians in the first half of this year, with a sum of >12,000 Christians killed over the last five years.

Christians are not alone in being threatened by religious tensions and violence, kidnapping and criminality. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)  reports that religious freedom in general is poor in Nigeria. Minority Shi'a Muslims, too, are persecuted by the government.

Co-authors Cooper and Moore hope that American churches will "adopt" Nigerian churches (photo) as a way to bring global attention to their vulnerability. The rabbi says, “Nigerians feel like they’ve been totally forgotten. . . Speaking as a Jew, I think American Christians are the sleeping giant here who can help halt this violence.”

from The Stream

Taken for ransom

Last December another Nigerian Christian was abducted while traveling to her family for Christmas. Her pastor received a phone call during a church service from her kidnapper demanding enormous ransom. Shaken, he called the police to give them phone numbers, but they did nothing.

Seminary training didn't cover negotiation, but the pastor negotiated for this woman. He wound up selling his car/clothes/house to raise money, and the small congregation managed to come up with enough. She was returned unharmed though some Christian men with her were killed on the spot.

A Jewish Orthodox rabbi and a Christian met with her last February and tell her story in their new book, The Next Jihad. Rabbi Cooper, director for social global action at Simon Wiesenthal Center, has spent fifty years standing for human rights and against genocide.

from The Stream

(cont'd tomorrow)

NASA contracts

Nokia's contract to build a lunar cellular network part is just one of many that NASA has selected. 

Fourteen privately held companies are now partnering with NASA in the effort to put Americans on the moon again by 2024. The total dollar sum divided between the companies is $370 million.

America's presence in space will be sustainably long-term. Rockets and other space craft will need the ability to re-fuel in orbit, thus more than two-thirds of the money relates to management of cryogenic fluids like liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

For example, SpaceX will get $53 million for an in-space demonstration transferring 11 tons of liquid oxygen between tanks on one of its starships.

For other companies awarded contracts, see NASA.

from Space

Nokia on the moon

 NASA has awarded a $14 million contract to Nokia to put a 4G cellular network on the moon. It's part of the overall plan to first send people to the moon by 2024, and then to establish a lunar base by 2028. They'll need to communicate with each other.

As the first LTE/4G communications system in space, it will also support wireless operation of lunar rovers and streaming video. The network will be designed for extreme temperatures, radiation, and vacuum conditions.

from Mashable

Existence

God's existence cannot be mathematically or scientifically proved. But neither can it be proved that He does not exist, no matter what any dogmatic atheist would like to claim. Both beliefs are a matter of choice based on evidence that a person thinks important.

People have been making that choice one way or another throughout history. The debate continues.

Here is an argument that is new to me, hinging on the meaning of "contingent." It was explained by mathematician and natural philosopher Gottfried Leibniz at the end of the 17th century. 

Free speech 7

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Lewis was a professor at Magdalen College in Oxford when someone else started the Socratic Club and asked him to be its first president in 1942. Its purpose was to apply the Socratic  principle to one specific matter: the pros and cons of Christianity.

They "scoured Who's Who" to invite well-qualified atheists to come and present their arguments. They wanted to listen - to hear not the weakest, but rather the best arguments that the other side had to offer. The case in favor of Christianity would also be heard.

Magdalen College, Oxford

Inaccurate misunderstandings may drive bitter division between the two sides, especially (Lewis said) in a "large and talkative community" like the university. This format would produce clarity. Some say that religion is too sacred to be debated publicly. Lewis said that it absolutely must be talked about.

In controversial issues, both sides think themselves right and the other side wrong. Let's not silence the other side, but hear and answer it. Civilly and respectfully.

We are spiritual beings. We want to know the truth.

from God in the Dock, pp 126-128

Free speech 6

Atheist C. S. Lewis experienced what Jesus Christ called being "born again" and became a believer in 1931. Because of his influential writing and speaking, he's now called the greatest Christian apologist of the 20th century. That does not mean he apologized for Christianity, but rather that he explained why it is true.

As an Oxford professor in the UK, he also served as president of the Oxford Socratic Club from 1942 until 1954. The Club's inspiration was Socrates' principle to bravely follow an argument or a claim wherever the evidence leads, even though it may point to an idea you don't like. 

Why would someone do that? Because they want to know the truth, even if it doesn't confirm their own opinion. The Club applied that principle, pursue the truth bravely, to Christianity.

from God in the Dock, pp. 126-128

(cont'd tomorrow)

Rivian

Amazon revealed its brand new line of electric delivery vans last week. Their fleet total is expected to reach 10,000 in 2022 and 100,000 by 2030. Alexa will be giving hands-free help with navigation and weather forecasts, of course. 

But the vans are not from Tesla (Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are famously not friends). Rivian is the company making them. They've taken a low public profile for about eleven years, but have big investors.

A round of investment last July included Amazon and T. Rowe Price and amounted to $2.5 billion. Ford itself chipped in $500 million and will eventually sell the Rivian.

from The Verge

Build, not burn

 So many business owners of color suffered destruction of their dreams this summer. Looting and burning followed months of little or no income. How long can they stay positive, how long before their efforts reward them again? Despair tempts.

"Shark Tank" investor Daymond John wants to head off that urge o give up. From his point of view as a business owner, he thinks they need "support from industry peers, honest conversations about Black business and, during a time of heightened emotional stress, quality entertainment."

October 24 will be the first Black Entrepreneurs Day offering some of that online, featuring one-on-one conversations with black business leaders (like Shaq O'Neal). John will share his own struggles and failures.

He says, “You see people out there burning businesses when they should be building them.”

from Forbes

USS Cole

 Twenty years ago today, 17 American Navy sailors were killed on their ship. Al Qaeda attacked the USS Cole, not during any war, resulting in those seventeen deaths and the injury of 39 others. The photo below is a memorial service held five years after the attack.

Commanding Officer on the ship commended his crew: "No one panicked. They set about dividing into three groups: damage control to save the ship, triage to say their shipmates, and security to prevent what could be another attack."

Response from the President at that time: 

“To those who attacked them we say, you will not find a safe harbor. We will find you and justice will prevail. America will not stop standing guard for peace or freedom or stability in the Middle East and around the world.”

Free speech 5

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Restricting speech is a path to coercion. It's shortsighted. At some point you will strongly disagree with some point of political correctness and the force of restricted speech will come down on your own point of view. 

As a professor at Cornell University says, "There is no alternative to free speech, because every controversial topic has a substantial group of people who view it as hate speech."

Free speech respects the dignity of other people, and your own. Free speech enables us to pursue the truth. Those are advantages. The disadvantage is that voices we don't like will also be heard. But free speech is worth it.

Evolutionary biologist and militant atheist Richard Dawkins speaks and writes books to convince the world that all life on earth resulted from random chance and natural selection. Philosopher Paul Nelson believes that all life shows evidence of intelligent design. Their opinions are far apart.

Normally welcome on any college campus, Dawkins was disinvited from speaking at Trinity College, Dublin, because of politically incorrect comments he recently made. Was Nelson happy to hear of the cancellation? No. He signed a petition to uphold the original invitation, though he objects to Dawkins' message.

Nelson says, "I think Dawkins is wrong about a great many things, but cancel culture destroys truth-seeking." Like me, Paul Nelson believes speech must be free. It's worth it.

Free speech 4

All choices are trade-offs. All values are trade-offs. One option is chosen, the other options are not chosen. Every option has a set of advantages and disadvantages. You pick a set when you make a choice or prefer one value over another.

To value free speech over restricted or coerced speech was the choice of America's founders, and that choice was affirmed by generations of Americans . . until today. Now, some choose to ban what you or I want to say if they don't approve of it.

Colleges and universities used to pride themselves on valuing open discussion regardless of who might disagree. Now administration or student groups routinely cancel speakers, or use intimidation to silence the person whose opinion they don't like.

Their choice to restrict speech gives them the comfort of not having to defend their opinion against the analysis of a critic. But there's also a problem: maybe they have missed something. Maybe they don't possess all truth. Maybe they're wrong sometimes.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Urban ag 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Forbes has organized an event called AgTech Under 30 Hackathon: The Future of Food and Agriculture. A team working on the future of food and agriculture in Indiana has come up with a concept they call Jungl to empower hydroponic gardeners with a networking platform.

Users can interact with experienced growers, for example, who can suggest crops appropriate to their urban climate. The network will create a marketplace for exchange of produce as well as information. 

One team member, Ullas Samrat, actually has a hydroponic agriculture startup business in Mumbai, India. Called Triton Foodworks, it produces 700 tons of fruits and vegetables per year. He says hydroponics can produce 30-300 times more food per land measure than a traditional farm. He thinks hydroponics gardens have the potential to reduce urban food insecurity by 40%.

Urban ag 1

Farmers markets are popular because the food is fresh and grown locally, often by the very farmer that you talk to next to his produce table. (And . . because it's outside, bursting with energy, and sometimes in my city a live Ecuadoran band is playing.)

Our efficient food distribution system has long supported very big, dense cities where the people are very far from traditional farms. But innovations keep coming because we can do better to provide quality food to cities. 

Revolution Farms in Michigan produces 350,000-450,000 pounds of produce every year, delivering fresh lettuce in every season, within 1-2 days of picking. Their huge 50,000 square foot greenhouse controls the environment:

"By blending technology and biology, supply chain and advanced agriculture, our farm harnesses natural light, automatically adjusts temperature, wind, shade, humidity and carbon dioxide." 

(cont'd tomorrow)

Platforms 1

Some people don't seem to take voting in a presidential election very seriously. 

How do you choose who to vote for? Do you follow an online resource, or have a favorite single issue, or choose the best looking, or vote for the party, or choose the most charming, or trust your feelings . . or are you guided by the campaign commercials?

Not so many years ago, speaking the truth was nearly a universal value among Americans. But then it became popular to deny the existence of truth and any obligation to stick to the truth. It may look like all politicians are lying. Who should you trust? Many just give up.

But there is solid help to make your voting decision. It's the party platform. Candidates will generally have to follow the platform of the political party which supports them. The party is paying for their campaign.

Candidates may be moral, or experienced, or truthful, or nice, or they may not. But, mostly, they're going to follow the party platform.

So go to this party platform and to the other party platform. You'll find out what they stand for. 

(to be cont'd)

Miraculous cell 1

This morning I ordered a new book by Dr. Michael Denton, The Miracle of the Cell. Reading it will be joyous, judging from my experience of reading his other books. Here is an excerpt for a preview.

As an article in Nature says, "the complexity of biology has seemed to grow by orders of magnitude." A biochemist (study of chemistry in living organisms) at Berkeley says, "It seems like we're climbing a mountain that keeps getting higher and higher . . The more we know, the more we realize there is to know."

The cell is the smallest unit of life and the most complicated. Quoting Dr. Denton, "In terms of compressed complexity, cells are without peer in the material world, actualized or imagined."

What goes on in a living cell was a complete mystery before the mid-20th century. "Only as the veil began to lift with the mid-century molecular biological revolution did science begin to glimpse the sophistication of these extraordinary pieces of matter." I'll share the discoveries with you when I get it in a couple of weeks.

Mpls safe?

 (cont'd from 9-22 post, "Not Reassuring")

Police Inspector McGinty explained to a worried Minneapolis business owner that the police are doing the best they can. But after the City Council took funding away, it resulted in fewer officers to do ordinary policing.

Now more businesses have expressed concern. Forty restaurant owners wrote a letter to Minneapolis' mayor and council to ask for help. They think the public's perception of an unsafe downtown is impacting them.

Spokesperson for the restaurant group says that they want public safety to be a priority:

"We want them to address that there is an issue in downtown that needs to be fixed now, before downtown Minneapolis goes in the wrong direction for good . . . We want zero tolerance for the crime, for the harassment, for the assaults, for the theft. and we want the greater community to know it is not lawless. There is law here.”

Restaurant closures so far for 2020 in StPaul/Mpls are listed here.

from CBSLocal