Best Government: Problem Solution Makes Government Big

I am having trouble identifying the source of information our legislators  are using to make political decisions.Where do they get their ideas? One said, “I read two Shakespeares.”  What a pitiful admission of stupidity and straining for credibility! I say again, they have to call upon the scholars who have studied the problems in depth. A coalition of scholars at their hearings would impress me that they are getting the best advice, beyond that of their colleagues in the Senate or House, or their executive cabinet.

If I were President, Governor, Committee chair, etc.,  I would act as a moderator, Charlie Rose style, of the authors of books on (big breath): homelessness; nationalistic militarism; human rights; natural resource conservation, depletion,  and exploration; healthcare; genicide; homeland security; drought; totalitarianism and democracy; aids and world health; United Nations membership; poverty; corruption; pandemics; vagrant asteroids; housing; crime; pollution; infrastructure; hunger; energy; malnutrition; racism and xenophobia; food supply; global warming; immigration,terrorism; taxes; education and schools; political campaigning; budget deficits; foreign aid; and so on…

That is the prime duty of a chief executive in a political entity: moderator, facilitator, policy maker. In the last election, I actually heard a candidate for governor state that very goal. I was flabbergasted. And he said he would find all those resource people from around the state. When you think of it, that is one full plate of worms. He or she would become one sweaty blur attending to all the issues to be juggled. Did I see therein minding the ranch and the golf game?

Write a goal, aim, or best fix and solution for each. Then propose it to the people and let them have their input. Do we need big government. You betcha!!!

The Wild Hair #2: Megaphone in Orbit

Fix an Earth satellite in stationary orbit over the Middle East. Load it with a mega-powered amplifier system and a timer system.Aim the blast of sound at the radical Muslim places on Earth. In their native language and a native sounding voice send some words as a voice from “up there”.

“Hear and obey the One you look up to. Say my name! (PAUSE) Hear and obey: KILL NO OTHER MAN, WOMAN, or CHILD. THAT IS THE LAW FOR ALL HUMAN BEINGS. If you kill, you are a beast, and you will be slaughtered and fed to the worms.”

Or some such words that will effect an end to the killing in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Repeat at some interval, say once in the morning and once in the evening for several days. Then start another cycle after an interval of a week. Then wait to assess any progress. Have a second message that reports the pleasure or displeasure with the result. Some may cringe in fear, but some may start laughing themselves silly. Laughter is good, yes?

Perhaps you have some words you would have such a device cast down. I have no doubt that the audio technology exists to beam down to Earth a voice of doom from outer space.

(I remember that they had a hard time figuring out the symbolic communication they would put on an interstellar vehicle, in case it should be intercepted by life on other worlds. This might be as difficult.)

An Iraq Solution

Following Sen. Joe Biden’s proposal to divide Iraq as a solution to our problem-war in Iraq, I suggest a slightly different division, following Al Franken’s idea. Franken says make it Shiastan, Sunnistan and Kurdistan. Not so crazy. Then I would say divide the Baghdad zone into four sectors just as was done after WWII in Berlin, where there were four sectors, English, French, Russian, and American. Shia, Sunni, Kurd and one common sector in the middle called Parliament. The three could be drawn to point to the center. It’s not like that country has never been partitioned before. (I do not view this as a wild-hair idea.)

A Wild Hair #1: Unknown Effects

[A Wild Hair: like a weed, anything that grows outside of its proper, expected, or desired place. For me, it is an idea that pops up with no context for its being.]

The Earth belongs to a system and behavior of its own which we do not own and cannot in most senses control. But we can disrupt that system in certain ways. The minerals and other substances underground we can dig up and bring to the surface. Our cities are built from those materials that have been brought to the surface and piled high, in various architectural and amorphous forms. What is the weight of one city like New York City? Of all the cities large and small everywhere? How much do the oceans weigh when the ice is high in an ice age, or when the ice has melted with global warming? To take substances to the surface, away from their ancient, natural placement probably has some effect on the turning of the Earth on its axis, and consequently its seasons, and perhaps other dimensions of time and space. The moon is very slowly, but nevertheless, slipping away from its earth orbit, and its gravitational relationship with Earth. We may be gradually digging  the grave for future civilizations. Is there an underground alternative? Using what is there in situ?