Review: TED Talk Eric X. Li on China and the US

“We live in the dusk of an era. Meta-narratives that make universal claims failed us in the 20th century and are failing us in the 21st. Meta-narrative is the cancer that is killing democracy from the inside.

Now, I want to clarify something. I’m not here to make an indictment of democracy. On the contrary, I think democracy contributed to the rise of the West and the creation of the modern world. It is the universal claim that many Western elites are making about their political system, the hubris, that is at the heart of the West’s current ills. If they would spend just a little less time on trying to force their way onto others, and a little bit more on political reform at home, they might give their democracy a better chance.

China’s political model will never supplant electoral democracy, because unlike the latter, it doesn’t pretend to be universal. It cannot be exported. But that is the point precisely. The significance of China’s example is not that it provides an alternative, but the demonstration that alternatives exist.

Let us draw to a close this era of meta-narratives. Communism and democracy may both be laudable ideals, but the era of their dogmatic universalism is over. Let us stop telling people and our children there’s only one way to govern ourselves and a singular future towards which all societies must evolve. It is wrong. It is irresponsible. And worst of all, it is boring. Let universality make way for plurality. Perhaps a more interesting age is upon us. Are we brave enough to welcome it?

Thank you.”— Eric X. Li’s TED talk: A TALE OF TWO POLITICAL SYSTEMS

I do not subscribe to China’s one party system, but the faults of China’s system aside, it is maintaining itself and its people, unlike the US and its western model that is increasingly about survival through annexation.

The US model is about putting off the problems of here and now, by putting effort into destroying and annexing always the next thing, the next country, the next resource.

However a country that does not resolve the issues of its own back yard before expanding and enforcing its will on other countries, is like a dog with rabies, running around the neighborhood and jumping fences and killing and mating with other dogs. It is a policy of barbarism and ultimately genocide and madness.

So while I do not think China’s system is an answer, compromised as it is by corruption and human rights violations, it is clear to me that unchecked Capitalism masquerading as Democracy, what the US and other Westernized Nations are calling Democracy… is a more compromised, more untenable, more destructive, and ultimately more evil system.

So the crux of Eric’s closing speech (quoted above)is sound, not that we should adopt China’s system, but that we should be flexible, and open to a changing and changed system, and the idea that there are a multitude of systems and solutions that remain untried.

Open to the idea that we as individuals, groups, and nations must always be looking to form… a more perfect union.

A successful nation is perhaps not an end, but a journey. And it is the things we allow a nation to do on that unending journey, in our name, that defines not just the success and the failure, but the good and the evil, of our lives.

Judge gives promising basketball recruit, High-schooler Tony Farmer 3-year sentence

I don’t follow the news, I have a hard enough time following my own life.

But the story of the 6’7″ highschool star forward, who was all set to be snapped up for future Basketball fame, getting 3 years in prison, for an altercation with his ex-girlfriend last year, well that made it on my radar.

Helped by the fact that he made a quite understandable, if not quite smart, spectacle of himself when the verdict was read.

Depending where you get your news he either wailed like a little girl, fell out, or fainted. Possibly not the image you want to project before heading to the big house.

It sounds like I’m taking this lightly, I’m really not.

Underneath the idiotic circus the media always makes of the news is perhaps an intriguing story, a hard lesson learned, perhaps a bit of a miscarriage of justice (not even his ex-girlfriend thinks sending him to prison is a good idea, for what, from what I can find, amounts to a stupid, but relatively minor domestic dispute).

I mean in a country where you can shoot somebody in the face and not do a day in jail, (Dick Cheney, I’m looking at you!), three years for a minor domestic is a bit much.

And his lawyer not pleading down the charges and getting rid of that Kidnap charge is what really got Farmer the heavy time (Calling kidnap what really sounds like a blustering moronic jock, putting hands on his girl, which is not something to be condoned, but it is something most moronic jocks grow out of, and it is something that you start throwing excessive prison time at, you’d have half the people in the NFL and NBA, in prison before they ever had their careers. Calling Kidnapping what amounts to hormones, or stupid young love or lust, may be more than a bit much),

I think the application of the charge of kidnap in this case may have been more than a bit fluid and excessive.

I’m not saying a promising career makes you above the law, but neither should other factors make you more harshly sentenced by the law.

So yeah for his lawyer not to plead out of that Kidnap charge, especially when the victim was willing, I tell you that’s the back-breaker.

It’s the problem with our justice system, it isn’t about what’s true or false, it isn’t about what is just…it’s about how good your lawyer is.

Are we better for another young man going to gladiator school, does anyone think he’ll come out and offer more to society, or will, having supped at America’s horrendous system, will he become a nightmare worthy of the caging.

Suddenly a young man who potentially could have added something to the world, is on the fast track to being a perennial drain on tax dollars, and perhaps a repeat offender, if statistics are to be believed.

Perspective.

Perspective.

He had none, and made a mistake. His excuse was he was 17. What will be our excuse, for our lack of perspective? There are people who deserve and warrant long prison sentences for the good of society, I don’t think anyone will argue that that is the case here.

Perspective.

I was also interested in finding a pic of the girlfriend, this Andrea Lane, whom an 18 year old (17 at the time) in a fit of stupidity lost his future for. This is a young man who, remove that night, would right now be talking about college at least, and NBA possibly, and would have had his pick of girls.

Again not making light, not being vulgar, I’m giving perspective to all sides.

It’s the thing about being young, you have no perspective, no patience, no belief in anything but now. And that stupidity is many things, but I have my doubts about such stupidity being grounds for incarceration. At least of the 3 year variety.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker has a 180 days to consider her sentence, to judge her own perspective, and see if… justice is served by it.

Time will tell.

FAVORITE Website & Program OF THE DAY: CELESTIA?!

FAVORITE WEBSITE OF THE DAY: CELESTIA

I’m kinda double-dipping here because this is not just my favorite website of the day, it’s one of my favorite programs to use on the computer.

Just addictive as well as being fun and educational. How often does that happen?!

I’m speaking of a mad open-source astronomy project called Celestia.

You can see what I’m going on about here!

As well as here andhere!

It’s like having an endlessly configurable planetarium on your computer. The idea of creating simulations of voyages through the stars, and sampling amazing voyages and scripts that other users create… well all that functionality makes Celestia pretty close to great. 🙂

You can get download links for the program and user created voyages/scripts from the link above. Okay need to go do some Celesting now! 🙂

(Yes. it’s geeky but it’s also pretty… [wait for it]…stellar! You see what I did there? :))

To Drink or Not to Drink… That is the Question. :)

Water, water everywhere. And not a drop to drink.

Choosing the best water purification system.

That’s what this post is about.

Something that should be simple.

Safe water.

I have spent more time than I wanted, looking for a reliable alternative to my AQUASANA Counter Water Filter; which, underneath their cloudy claims, is not NSF certified. They are California certified but that certification shows they remove very few contaminants, about the same # as a cheap $20 faucet water filter would. Namely Aquasana doesn’t remove Mercury, and Fluoride.

Now, Some people want fluoride in their water, and that is fine… more power to you, I personally don’t want it in my water. (To preemptively ward-off the fluoride lovers/cult who always pops up when people dare question not having fluoride in their water, if you want my stance on fluoride, do a search on my blog and you’ll find a post I wrote specifically on fluoride).

Anyhow so I’ve been looking at a ton of choices in the last 24 hours. I’m compulsive that way. It really is staggering, how difficult it is to find a certified product that does something as simple as remove Mercury and Fluoride as well as bacteria, and other contaminants.

I’ve learned enough in the last 24 hours, to earn my PHD in the subject. And the main thing I’ve learned… is there is no really good alternative. Well let me correct that there is one good alternative theoretically, but not practically.

A reverse Osmosis system with a Solid carbon Block filtration stage. That’s it, over all the other systems… loose carbon filter, ultraviolet systems, gravity systems, and just reverse osmosis systems… the solid block RO is the holy grail.

But before pulling the trigger I like reading the comments of people who didn’t like a product, so I surf the review sites. Specifically for reviews of A Solid Carbon, Reverse Osmosis water filtration system.

Most of the time you can discount consumer placed online/shopping reviews, particularly the negative ones. They are typically posted by idiots (usually with only one comment or only negative comments) complaining about slow shipping, or the fact they didn’t read the description correctly and want to blame the product for their illiteracy. Reading a lot of reviews I would say 90% of the time… negative posters are not the sharpest knives in the draw.

However you occasionally get the other 10%. An informed, consumer/fan written review.

Specifically I stumbled across just such a negative review in regards to the water filter ($330+) I was considering buying. His review was well written, straight to the point, and clear on the reason he didn’t like it. Basically he stated that his RO tank that held the freshly purified water… was actually a plastic that was leaching into the water.

That was his guess.

But is it accurate? Well since I’m in my compulsive mode I decided to find out. The short answer is yes.

The container that virtually all ROs (Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration Machines) utilize is an internal plastic liner. Now that’s not as horrible as it sounds because in the better tanks, the lining is made out of a type 5 plastic called Polypropylene. It’s the best plastic and the only one that does not significantly leach into water over time. (for your information most bottled water uses the cheaper plastic that breaks down 1/in sunlight and 2/overtime. So that water you’ve been storing in plastic jugs for the apocalypse, either move it to glass quickly or toss it out).

So that’s the good news. It is possible to get a tank with a relatively safe liner.

Here’s the bad news. Inside of that liner is a bladder that the water is held in and comes in contact with. It’s made out of Butyl. A component of something you don’t want in your water , which is MTBE, basically a fossil derivative, not much different then what they use to make dolls and tires out of. Now MTBE in no way shape or form should be anywhere near water.

So the question is: how safe is Butyl by itself to house water and act as a container for your expensive filtration system? The answer: There is no documentation, I could find regarding water and over time exposure leaching with Butyl.

However if that’s what is in the tank that was negatively reviewed, and most peoples’ RO tank, that could explain that stale/plastic taste that some RO users report. The plastic of your very water filter, is contaminating the water you’ve just filtered.

It’s so disheartening, here I am not a scientist, but with just a cursory look and cursory research, I can determine that someone spending good money for the quality of their water, perhaps would not want that compromised by plastic and petrol byproducts, that are going to leach over time, into the very water they’ve spent a good sum to purify.

From $40 faucet system to $500 Ro/Solid Carbon systems it’s almost laughable how each one is designed with a point of failure, to ultimately defeat the very reason you’re getting it. These companies, should all be ashamed.

So what does that leave us?

Well, unless you know someone who can design you a safe tank, to more than likely include the filter containers, everything solid stainless steel, inside and out, a bladder-less system, or a bladder made of something that won’t leach into the water, well until that happens you’re spending a lot of money on a flawed system.

Distillation would be a good alternative, but even the Distillers that say ‘American made’ are made in China. And China’s quality control being what it is, the distiller will probably have an aluminum interior and add more contaminants than it removes. In addition almost none of the distillers are certified in any way, so you have only the manufacturers word it’s even effective.

Getting water devoid of additives you don’t want, in a supposedly developed nation, should not be this difficult. It shouldn’t be impossible, and 24 hours of research later… all I can say is… it largely is.

Unless you have the filter built to your specifications by a company you trust, or you are handy enough to build it yourself… you are relegated to drinking little better than tap water, regardless of your choice of filter.

Well, following my own advice I’m going to look for that certified stainless steel Distiller and or RO/Solid Carbon filter, or make it.

It can be a project for my next 24 hours. 🙂 (unless someone here has discovered the holy grail of filters, and if that’s the case drop me a line).

Well hope all this has helped, at least save you some running around, and maybe clarify your choices. Till later, be well.