John F. Kennedy and Apollo

In 1960, I was a college freshman headed for a degree in physics. It may surprise a lot of people, but I supported John Kennedy that autumn more because of his attitudes about space than anything else. Whatever they say now, his speeches about the "missile gap" were also understood to be references to a "space gap". I simply knew he felt space was important, and he didn't disappoint me. He sent us to the Moon, starting in 1961. Some of his reasons -- those easiest to sell politically -- had to do with the Cold War and national prestige, but I always heard a deeper appreciation for the adventure in his speeches. The Apollo program was as much in the spirit of the New Frontier as anything he left us, and I applauded it to the end, at Apollo 17, in December, 1972. I even went to the Kennedy Space Center in July, 1971, and looked at Apollo 15 preparing to launch. I watched the launch the next morning from across the Banana River after sleeping in a station wagon on the riverbank all night.

I think deep down, Kennedy knew that we'd need those distant resources, those other worlds, asteroids, and comets all someday. I think he'd still approve of efforts to genuinely access those realms for all humanity today.

I'd like to see our politicians today act with as much foresight. Business as usual, even socially progressive business as usual, won't be enough otherwise ...

Should the Low Income Bush Tax Cuts Remain?

With the Democrats in Congress, the many Bush Tax Cuts will come under increasing scrutiny, and may be left to expire. This will be presented as a justifiable increase of taxes on the rich, and for the bulk of the funds thus raised, it may indeed be the rich that pay. However, there's one Bush tax cut bracket that affects "little guys", and that's the 5% capital gains/dividend tax for people in the 15% overall tax bracket.

I'd guess the bulk of the people in that tax bracket are modest income retirees that managed to accumulate a few investments in addition to an IRA or 401K. They are modest income persons because they wouldn't qualify for the 15% overall tax bracket if they were rich. And because they are modest income persons, I'd like to suggest the Democrats might do well to retain this one capital gains/dividend tax rate bracket. In doing so, they would remain true to their committment to help the little guys ...

Charging for Op-Ed at the New York Times

I see the New York Times has decided to move its Op-Ed page to a paid subscription section. Those columns will no longer be available free to the public over the Internet.

I think that's a mistake. The Times states, "Get exclusive online access to The Times's most influential writers." Just how influential will those columns remain if their audience is reduced to paid access only? I don't expect to pay the freight, and I suspect the majority of their current Internet audience will likewise drop out.

Do We Need to Train More Scientists?

Since I already questioned one conclusion of Thomas Friedman in a previous post, this seems like a good place to question another one.

His editorials constantly seem to urge us to increase our output of engineers and scientists. But an article in CNN's Money section suggests why we aren't likely to do that, at least for research scientists.

As the article points out, pay levels for research scientists remain depressed for years after they finish graduate school. On top of that, there are fewer positions than there are candidates.

This isn't a new situation. You'll find a detailed description of the problem in an essay by Jonathan I. Katz, a tenured university professor of physics. His article was written at the peak of the tech industry boom.

I'd suggest that the points raised by these articles tell us why students aren't becoming researchers. Students correctly realize that the opportunities remain very limited after an enormous effort in school. That's a bad combination.

Blogging vs. Demonstrating

I'm wondering how much creative energy for change the blogosphere generates, vs. how much it absorbs. I'm old enough to remember the 1960's. One thing I remember is that if you wanted to make a point, you got out and met with others of similar mind, and you got out in public and demonstrated.

I don't deny that blogging is producing political awareness and organizing now. But I wonder if it isn't also absorbing a lot of energy in which people sit around and file comments all day on other people's posts rather than taking more direct steps.

The amazing thing about Cindy Sheehan is that she has moved from cyberspace to real space in a major way, right out in front of everybody. She's been writing columns on LewRockwell.com for some time, but her direct political action now appears to be many times more effective.

Is that a general lesson? Are blogs overemphasized? Is direct action being neglected?

All Electronic, All the Time

In one of his many editorials on science and technology outside of America, Thomas Friedman sticks to his mantra about how we're falling behind.

I wonder. I was talking to a friend over the weekend about how fruitful my time has been since I first acquired a PC at home in 1993 (I had a PC at work earlier). That very first home PC, a 16 MHz laptop with an 80 MB harddrive, running only MS-DOS most of the time, produced more useful output than any PC since. Indeed, I've noticed an inverse relationship between the power of my PC and speed of Internet access, and my productive output. Why?

To be honest, I noticed a similar correlation at work. The easier Internet access became, the more I and my coworkers seemed to be spending work time browsing through web pages that weren't part of our work. Companies also seem to have noticed this, as they've moved to restrict access at work.

I think Mr. Friedman has caught the dot-com virus. In the late 1990's, any new technology seemed to be embraced for its own sake. Few people were asking how much of it would prove viable, or useful, even as enthusiasm and funding soared. Of course, that bubble burst, at least in America.

Now I'll admit I use the Internet a lot, including for this blog. But I keep hearing this nagging voice tell me that I use it too much, that I've moved well into the zone of diminishing returns. Whatever happened to reading good books, or doing analytical research, or working to help other people, or any number of non-electronic activities? I think those tend to get sucked into this electronic black hole called the Internet.

Maybe high speed wi-fi in subways will help Mr. Friedman write his editorials and transmit them. Maybe it will help businesspeople work even as they commute. But maybe most people will use it simply to browse non-productively to avoid boredom. And maybe even the people who use it productively will lose something by not using that time to unplug, and reflect. At least in my case, I found the most difficult problems required me to get away from the computer and just walk. Then I could often see the solution which eluded me while I was plugged in.

We all managed to survive pretty well before the Internet. In my case, I suspect that maybe I had a better life back then, not a poorer one. I don't think universal high speed Internet access is an unqualified plus.

Oysterland, January, 2003

After the Saturn dealer in Tallahassee finished with my car on Wednesday afternoon, I drove south to the Gulf coast. I reached the coast and Panacea, FL just after sunset. To the west of Panacea, the Gulf starts to appear from the road, and it was mirroring a deep crimson western sky. This time of year, highway 98 is almost empty, so I rolled along in a cool but pleasant breeze in peace, with the deepening colors of the sky and the gathering moonlight, watching the lights offshore, unsure whether they were boats, or islands. Indeed, as the night took over, it was almost magical in the light of the nearly full moon, with the frequent glimpses of the water, the long stretches of pine trees, and the little restaurants and clumps of houses. It was almost possible to pretend that this coast is indeed "The Forgotten Coast", as it bills itself. The developments that are present weren't visible (they were the next day in daylight on my return). Certainly, this is not your honky-tonk gold coast of south or central Florida.

Around Carabelle, the density picks up, and you start to see RV parks. Those were full! The retirees are out in force, cruising this highway. I respect that lifestyle, even though I know they live in tight quarters. In exchange, they have the closest thing to total freedom you find on land and I suspect the constant changes make up for a lot of inconvenience. After all, I've certainly done my share of road travelling in the past 15 months!

I detoured briefly onto St. George Island, but it looked rather lonely, with the old St. George Inn locked up and looking empty. So I drove back to the mainland, and into Apalachicola. There's another old inn there, but I drove on to the west side of town for a motel room. In retrospect, this was a good move, because the manager there recommended "Papa Joe's" for supper. If I had stayed at the inn, I'd have also eaten at it.

Now Papa Joe's is a restaurant right at the back of a main town marina. They get their catch right off the boats, and they specialize in oysters. I suppose those don't fit my new diet, but I said to heck with that. I hadn't had fresh raw oysters since 1986, and Apalachicola is world famous for its catch.

Inside, it looked like I was the only tourist. There were several local guys at the bar in a fishing discussion, and a few of the tables were occupied by what appeared to be local couples. This looked like one of those outstanding little spots you can still find tucked away in small towns in America, the kind of place that some millionaire will eventually buy out once the "Gold Coast" fever gets full hold here. Then it'll probably remain a good restaurant, but the prices will double or triple.

I ordered a half dozen oysters with a Miller Light. They brought seven, not six, of the juiciest, sweetest raw oysters I've ever had. I followed that with Chicken Primivera, and it was also oustanding. This was a real find!

As I reached the end of the meal, one of the guys at the bar piped up, "Our President is a war bug. He WANTS to go to war! Listen to him talk. Every word is, "I", "I", "I" ..."

I paid the bill and prepared to leave. As I was about to go, another guy at the bar drawled, "Waall, if we're goin' to war, we'd better get another bottle of whiskey ..."