Back to biking after being unable for a few weeks due to weather, client meetings, and travel to Chicago for my sister's wedding reception. Yesterday was a gorgeous day and today it poured. That's Vancouver...
I tuned my bike a week ago and got the gears shifting well, which is a nuisance when cycling for pleasure, and a real hassle for commuters like myself. I bought a semi-pro bike repair stand and the right books, so in combination with internet sources and patience I can stay on top of repairs and tuning.
Today I listened to Arianna Huffington and her book on the declining standards of the U.S. middle class, and yesterday was a great show with Henry L. Gates, most famous for being charged for breaking and entering into his own Cambridge, MA home. As a Harvard professor of African-American research, he used his position to publicize the event which eventually turned into the memorable White House "beer summit" with the police officers. Huffington was good, but Gates was great.
The show was based on this week's Fortune article by Dinesh D'Souza that claims President Obama thinks like his father, and therefore the country is being run by an African anti-colonialist. Newt Gingrich called the article "a stunning insight" and talked it up on Meet The Press, among other platforms. D'Souza writes: “The U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son.” This is strong stuff and makes an assumption that genes influence behaviour more than environment, which I can't believe is true.
Gates was excellent and took an academic approach to the situation, without being overly judgmental or harsh on the writers. The callers did that for him though and took their turns denouncing D'Souza and the Republican Party for launching a fear-based smear campaign. People fear the strange and unknown, and many still can't come to grips with a president that looks so different from all previous presidents, and who sounds and acts very different to his predecessor. Obama's opponents understand this very well and are playing on peoples' psychologies.
Gates runs an organization that traces genetic ancestry and he offered some interesting statistics on the percentage of blacks in America with white genes. He stated that he has never found a black American (excluding recent immigrants with direct bloodline) with 100% African genes. Gates joked that he himself is from the "African island of Ireland." This countered D'Souza's claim that Obama's genetic makeup influences the way he thinks, and if this was true, then all the white genes in black Americans should in some way think like whites. The conclusion from the guests was clearly that one's ancestors inform a person's beliefs, but don't dicate them. Personally speaking, I have to agree. My ancestors are British, but my beliefs are those of a Canadian raised in Wisconsin.
One caller asked Gates to substantiate his claim that "humans are all descended from people who walked out of Ethiopia 50,000 years ago." The caller wondered how this could be true when he was of Celtic origin in Scandanavia and does not resemble an African in any way. Obviously "evolution" is taught less vigorously in some parts of America, and it was remarkable to hear the caller's disbelief that his ancestors were African. Gates made the point that one must look at a long historical timeline, and that the caller is American today, he indeed is Celtic going back 10,000 years, but without doubt he is African going back 50,000 years.
It was an interesting hour and well worth listening too again.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Higher education crisis in America
Great ride, and I'm back to my old times: 26 km/hr for 40 minutes into work. My gears are a mess and I'll get the bike up on the repair stand this weekend for a tune-up. Took two of the boys out on the boat last night to retrieve our crab trap out of the Pacific, but as expected there was only a sunfish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zxIKnStnOg munching on the bait. I really need to spend more on a better trap because this one is easy for these things to crawl into, and surely they scare away crabs.
Today's On Point show http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/09/shaking-up-higher-ed is entitled "Shaking Up Higher Education" and is highly relevant to me. We have four boys, with the oldest in Grade 12 and ready to enter university in a year.
The discussion was on the competitiveness of American universities, which are facing overeas competition, increasing costs and are facing a growing push toward removing tenure. U.S. schools were (and are) the envy of the world, and I can say from personal experience that Asian parents work their children hard in order to get into prestigious schools. The goal seems to be "get in" as opposed "learn." This reminds me of my comment yesterday that the Republican goal seems to be "get elected" as opposed to "govern." Like any business, universities are affected by supply (schools) and demand (students) and need to provide a suitable value proposition to prospective students. Using the internet, students can research schools and will pay attention to what current students and recent graduates have to say. Regardless of the school's image and professional ranking, word-of-mouth via the internet will increasingly affect enrollment, and revenue from tuition. The message from one of the panelists was that U.S. schools are in a crisis situation, but academics and deans don't believe it.
A lot of the focus was on the increasing cost of obtaining a university education, and personally speaking this is a primary reason why we chose to move to Canada instead of the U.S. If we had moved to say, Washington state, then the kids would have been encouraged to attend "U Dub" in order to get in-state tuition. Currently, this is $8,710 per year, and out-of-state tuition is triple the in-state price tag at $25,329. It's possible that one or more of the kids might have been disappointed in the state university system and instead set their hearts on another school in another state. Assuming other states' fees are the same, a 4-year degree would set us back $100,000 plus the cost of travel etc. Private schools are somewhat pricier, and I imagine in the $40,000 range for a reasonably good school. There's a risk premium of between $15,000 and $30,000 per year, per kid, for each one that opts to go out-of-state or private.
In Canada, all public universties are around $5,000 per year for Canadians and $20,000 for non-Canadians. This means that all the schools across the country are the equivalent of "in-state" so our kids have a wide, affordable choice. We're encouraging them to attend the University of British Columbia (UBC) which is one of several local universities, but also happens to be ranked in the top 40 globally. They can live at home, get a great education, and not break mom and dad's piggy bank. Plus, they can get up to Whistler during the ski season and enjoy other hobbies like mountain climbing and biking. Many of their friends want to "get away" for university, but our kids "got away" their entire lives and are still learning what life is like in this foreign country of Canada, so luckily that's not an issue for us.
Today's On Point show http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/09/shaking-up-higher-ed is entitled "Shaking Up Higher Education" and is highly relevant to me. We have four boys, with the oldest in Grade 12 and ready to enter university in a year.
The discussion was on the competitiveness of American universities, which are facing overeas competition, increasing costs and are facing a growing push toward removing tenure. U.S. schools were (and are) the envy of the world, and I can say from personal experience that Asian parents work their children hard in order to get into prestigious schools. The goal seems to be "get in" as opposed "learn." This reminds me of my comment yesterday that the Republican goal seems to be "get elected" as opposed to "govern." Like any business, universities are affected by supply (schools) and demand (students) and need to provide a suitable value proposition to prospective students. Using the internet, students can research schools and will pay attention to what current students and recent graduates have to say. Regardless of the school's image and professional ranking, word-of-mouth via the internet will increasingly affect enrollment, and revenue from tuition. The message from one of the panelists was that U.S. schools are in a crisis situation, but academics and deans don't believe it.
A lot of the focus was on the increasing cost of obtaining a university education, and personally speaking this is a primary reason why we chose to move to Canada instead of the U.S. If we had moved to say, Washington state, then the kids would have been encouraged to attend "U Dub" in order to get in-state tuition. Currently, this is $8,710 per year, and out-of-state tuition is triple the in-state price tag at $25,329. It's possible that one or more of the kids might have been disappointed in the state university system and instead set their hearts on another school in another state. Assuming other states' fees are the same, a 4-year degree would set us back $100,000 plus the cost of travel etc. Private schools are somewhat pricier, and I imagine in the $40,000 range for a reasonably good school. There's a risk premium of between $15,000 and $30,000 per year, per kid, for each one that opts to go out-of-state or private.
In Canada, all public universties are around $5,000 per year for Canadians and $20,000 for non-Canadians. This means that all the schools across the country are the equivalent of "in-state" so our kids have a wide, affordable choice. We're encouraging them to attend the University of British Columbia (UBC) which is one of several local universities, but also happens to be ranked in the top 40 globally. They can live at home, get a great education, and not break mom and dad's piggy bank. Plus, they can get up to Whistler during the ski season and enjoy other hobbies like mountain climbing and biking. Many of their friends want to "get away" for university, but our kids "got away" their entire lives and are still learning what life is like in this foreign country of Canada, so luckily that's not an issue for us.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Congressional elections around the corner
Today's was a great show on the upcoming US elections.
The weak state of the U.S. economy continues to drive interest in and the direction of the election. If unemployment was back at NRU around 4-5% and GDP was growing modestly, I believe the Democrats would win easily. The average person links satisfaction with government overwhelmingly to current job and career satisfaction, and with Obama's relatively recent election the Congressional elections would be in the bag. But that's not the case, and voters worldwide have gotten rid of incumbents because they're willing to believe that a change, any change, is better than maintaining the status quo. Republicans understand this and with nothing to lose they are intent on using extreme language and diversionary tactics to win votes. Democrats refuse to make waves by employing Republican tactics, and are letting Congress slip out of their hands.
Republicans see the election as a battle to be won, and winning Congress is the sole objective so that Obama can be defeated in 2012. Democrats seem to be more genuinely interested in governing for the people, and are not willing to sacrifice their self respect in order to win. Republican tactics are proving successful and they rationalize their lack of shame by being the ones in power, while Democrats wring their hands and complain about dirty politics. If the Democrats continue to seek the high ground they need to rely on a successful economy, and failing that for the next several years, they need to fight fire with fire. Unfortunately, their platform appeals to the well meaning public, and the Republican message attracts the unsatisfied public, which is likely the majority. If the economy remains poor then I still expect Obama to be re-elected, but the U.S. government will become increasingly dysfunctional as the economy is used as a pawn in the Congressional election game. Today, the GOP obstructs measures that will help the economy and create jobs, but simultaneously blames the Democrats for not doing enough. The Dems could push through legislation, but fear of bad press. That's how I define "dysfunctional."
The American middle needs a moderate version of the Tea Party so that they can legitimately "reclaim their country. " The Tea Party has no clue about who they want to reclaim the country from, but in this case it's clear to me that political and media extremists have done the hijacking. Obama seems intent on restoring decency to the Presidency and Democratic Party, but he really needs to wait for a booming economy because his vocal opponents understand that the large, disctontented public is vulnerable to extreme messages. Some FDR and JFK politicking would help their cause immensely.
The weak state of the U.S. economy continues to drive interest in and the direction of the election. If unemployment was back at NRU around 4-5% and GDP was growing modestly, I believe the Democrats would win easily. The average person links satisfaction with government overwhelmingly to current job and career satisfaction, and with Obama's relatively recent election the Congressional elections would be in the bag. But that's not the case, and voters worldwide have gotten rid of incumbents because they're willing to believe that a change, any change, is better than maintaining the status quo. Republicans understand this and with nothing to lose they are intent on using extreme language and diversionary tactics to win votes. Democrats refuse to make waves by employing Republican tactics, and are letting Congress slip out of their hands.
Republicans see the election as a battle to be won, and winning Congress is the sole objective so that Obama can be defeated in 2012. Democrats seem to be more genuinely interested in governing for the people, and are not willing to sacrifice their self respect in order to win. Republican tactics are proving successful and they rationalize their lack of shame by being the ones in power, while Democrats wring their hands and complain about dirty politics. If the Democrats continue to seek the high ground they need to rely on a successful economy, and failing that for the next several years, they need to fight fire with fire. Unfortunately, their platform appeals to the well meaning public, and the Republican message attracts the unsatisfied public, which is likely the majority. If the economy remains poor then I still expect Obama to be re-elected, but the U.S. government will become increasingly dysfunctional as the economy is used as a pawn in the Congressional election game. Today, the GOP obstructs measures that will help the economy and create jobs, but simultaneously blames the Democrats for not doing enough. The Dems could push through legislation, but fear of bad press. That's how I define "dysfunctional."
The American middle needs a moderate version of the Tea Party so that they can legitimately "reclaim their country. " The Tea Party has no clue about who they want to reclaim the country from, but in this case it's clear to me that political and media extremists have done the hijacking. Obama seems intent on restoring decency to the Presidency and Democratic Party, but he really needs to wait for a booming economy because his vocal opponents understand that the large, disctontented public is vulnerable to extreme messages. Some FDR and JFK politicking would help their cause immensely.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Hit the 3,000 km mark
My daily commute is 36 km (22.5 miles) and features a fairly brisk ride into Vancouver from our 200m mountain elevation down to sea level, during which I average about 23 km/hr over the 40 minute ride and considerably less on the return. On the ride home the 200m elevation is recovered via a very steep climb for about 1.2kms (that reclaims about 150m of elevation) followed by a gradual 2.5km that recovers the rest.
It doesn't compare at all to the 100km climbs in The Tour de France, and while I think most people my age would find it hard to do, a reasonably fit person could certainly match my time. I was regularly getting into work in about 40 minutes and back home in about 55, but I replaced the chain and rear cogset and this really slowed me down. The "cogset" is the mass of teeth on the back wheel, and is the partner to the "chainring" at the center of the bike, which is powered by the cyclist's feet. When a cyclist changes gears, one gear shifter moves the chain up and down each "sprocket" in the cogset, and another moves the chain around the chainring. Competitive bikers adjust the cogset to suit the course, and for long, straight journeys they would go with a cogset with fewer teeth to generate speed, and for steep courses they would opt for many teeth to help them climb. For a course with varied terrain they need both, and for single track courses in a velodrome they probably just need a single speed.
The rear cogset is connected to the chainring by the chain and creates the "drivetrain." I was given my bike for free, and after learning more about bike repair I saw that the chain was old and stretched out, and had whittled away the teeth on the cogset. It's simple to understand because the chain and teeth work in unison, and and if the chain doesn't align with the teeth anymore then it grinds away at the teeth where there's friction.
I bought a new chain and cogset (called a cassette if all the sprockets are together) but was erroneously given a 7-sprocket one to replace my 8-sprocket cogset. I installed it, and then attached the smallest sprocket from the old cogset so the chain wouldn't fall off. That small sprocket has the fewest teeth, and is the one a cyclist uses to go really fast, but I had to disable it because it had been ground down by the old chain and didn't mesh with the new chain. So I can't use this sprocket to achieve high speeds and I wind up coasting a lot.
I'll have to replace the cogset , but ideally would like to wait for a few thousand kms so as to not waste the money I spent. I'll wait and see if my time is being constrained a lot because of this.
It doesn't compare at all to the 100km climbs in The Tour de France, and while I think most people my age would find it hard to do, a reasonably fit person could certainly match my time. I was regularly getting into work in about 40 minutes and back home in about 55, but I replaced the chain and rear cogset and this really slowed me down. The "cogset" is the mass of teeth on the back wheel, and is the partner to the "chainring" at the center of the bike, which is powered by the cyclist's feet. When a cyclist changes gears, one gear shifter moves the chain up and down each "sprocket" in the cogset, and another moves the chain around the chainring. Competitive bikers adjust the cogset to suit the course, and for long, straight journeys they would go with a cogset with fewer teeth to generate speed, and for steep courses they would opt for many teeth to help them climb. For a course with varied terrain they need both, and for single track courses in a velodrome they probably just need a single speed.
The rear cogset is connected to the chainring by the chain and creates the "drivetrain." I was given my bike for free, and after learning more about bike repair I saw that the chain was old and stretched out, and had whittled away the teeth on the cogset. It's simple to understand because the chain and teeth work in unison, and and if the chain doesn't align with the teeth anymore then it grinds away at the teeth where there's friction.
I bought a new chain and cogset (called a cassette if all the sprockets are together) but was erroneously given a 7-sprocket one to replace my 8-sprocket cogset. I installed it, and then attached the smallest sprocket from the old cogset so the chain wouldn't fall off. That small sprocket has the fewest teeth, and is the one a cyclist uses to go really fast, but I had to disable it because it had been ground down by the old chain and didn't mesh with the new chain. So I can't use this sprocket to achieve high speeds and I wind up coasting a lot.
I'll have to replace the cogset , but ideally would like to wait for a few thousand kms so as to not waste the money I spent. I'll wait and see if my time is being constrained a lot because of this.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Silent Friday
No podcasts on Friday because I need a better pair of headphones. I can hear cars extemely well because I only listen to interviews, and not music, so I don't feel there's any danger in that.
The weather has been exceptional and today was an ideal day for biking: Blue sky, slight breeze and cool. I normally take the coastal route through Stanley Park on Fridays, but didn't bother today. I always intend to leave a bit early on Friday, but as usual I wound up cycling out around 6pm and met my friend Cliff, who wanted to set my crab trap off the coast. We didn't get out until dark and had a great time on the water, but his motor had trouble due to a blocked fuel line so I rowed part of the way.
I picked up the trap a few hours ago (it's Saturday now) and had 3 large Dungeness crabs, and a couple of large starfish that were munching on the bait and keeping other crabs from being caught. I put in new bait and we'll retrieve it tomorrow. Wow, the Pacific northwest sure has its attractions.
The weather has been exceptional and today was an ideal day for biking: Blue sky, slight breeze and cool. I normally take the coastal route through Stanley Park on Fridays, but didn't bother today. I always intend to leave a bit early on Friday, but as usual I wound up cycling out around 6pm and met my friend Cliff, who wanted to set my crab trap off the coast. We didn't get out until dark and had a great time on the water, but his motor had trouble due to a blocked fuel line so I rowed part of the way.
I picked up the trap a few hours ago (it's Saturday now) and had 3 large Dungeness crabs, and a couple of large starfish that were munching on the bait and keeping other crabs from being caught. I put in new bait and we'll retrieve it tomorrow. Wow, the Pacific northwest sure has its attractions.
Invented languages
A fascinating show on invented languages. J.R.R. Tolkien probably has the most widely known and inventive group of languages, which he created for his Middle Earth books like the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. He was an interesting fellow, and if I recall correctly he was a professor of English at Oxford and became known for his work on Beowulf and Gawain And The Green Knight, written respectively in Old and Middle English. He was British, but was born and raised in South Africa, so I imagine his environment of multiple languages drove his career choice and influenced his writing. Another famous invented language of course is Klingon from Star Trek. The show gave me one piece of info I had never known: James "Scotty" Doohan (also a Canadian from Vancouver) was first asked to create the Klingon language for an early Star Trek movie. He did this, and its success contributed to its continued development for the movies and ultimately as a credit course in Californian universities.
I love language and languages and if I were again considering career choices as a young man, could have easily gone into linguistics. My Chinese is okay, and I continue to find it useful. For some reason I run into Chinese speakers; for example while standing on our remote cul de sac here, have been asked twice by Mandarin speaking tourists for directions. Luckily I know "waterfall" in Chinese because they're often looking for the well known hiking trail to the local waterfall, and would love to hear the conversation in the car after the driver stumbled onto the one Chinese-speaking Caucasian in the area. My Thai became passable after four years in Bangkok, and I worked on Italian and German for a few months prior to visits. And of course, growing up in Canada I took French from Grade 4, all the way through university.
I love language and languages and if I were again considering career choices as a young man, could have easily gone into linguistics. My Chinese is okay, and I continue to find it useful. For some reason I run into Chinese speakers; for example while standing on our remote cul de sac here, have been asked twice by Mandarin speaking tourists for directions. Luckily I know "waterfall" in Chinese because they're often looking for the well known hiking trail to the local waterfall, and would love to hear the conversation in the car after the driver stumbled onto the one Chinese-speaking Caucasian in the area. My Thai became passable after four years in Bangkok, and I worked on Italian and German for a few months prior to visits. And of course, growing up in Canada I took French from Grade 4, all the way through university.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Back to the podcasts
Woke to pouring rain, and found wind into my face at 13 km/hour on the bike ride to work. So, our nice summer is finishing and I missed most of it! My grass is half dead so I'm glad for the watering.
My memory is still not 100% and I'm just now grasping for what I listened to. It's not just a memory lapse, it's mainly because my usual headphones are in one of the kids' rooms and I only heard portions of the NPR show. On...the planned New York "mosque" near the World Trade Center site. I'm torn on that one because I don't think the local Muslims are in any way using this to commemorate 9/11 and in purely rational terms it shouldn't be an issue. I think they simply want a local place to worship, and of all places in the world, New York City is likely the most multiculutral and accomodating environment one could find. However, 9/11 is still too recent to be thought of in purely rational terms, and I completely understand the pushback.
The "mosque" is not a conventional mosque and is evidently a dedicated worship room in a local building. No minarets and no wailing mullahs etc. I have to side with the Muslim community because they are keeping their faith low key and I guess purposely hidden from public view. I also think the opposition is from a small group of vocal individuals with an extremely negative message and point of view that I can't believe reflects the average person. However, the average person can't even voice a moderate opinion now because they rightly fear of being targeted in the same way the Muslims are.
Since it's now such a high profile and sensitive topic I would ask the Muslims to simply move farther away, and avoid the unavoidable fall out. It's a no-win for all involved because it's also un-American and is counter to what the vocal extremists are fighting for and represent.
My memory is still not 100% and I'm just now grasping for what I listened to. It's not just a memory lapse, it's mainly because my usual headphones are in one of the kids' rooms and I only heard portions of the NPR show. On...the planned New York "mosque" near the World Trade Center site. I'm torn on that one because I don't think the local Muslims are in any way using this to commemorate 9/11 and in purely rational terms it shouldn't be an issue. I think they simply want a local place to worship, and of all places in the world, New York City is likely the most multiculutral and accomodating environment one could find. However, 9/11 is still too recent to be thought of in purely rational terms, and I completely understand the pushback.
The "mosque" is not a conventional mosque and is evidently a dedicated worship room in a local building. No minarets and no wailing mullahs etc. I have to side with the Muslim community because they are keeping their faith low key and I guess purposely hidden from public view. I also think the opposition is from a small group of vocal individuals with an extremely negative message and point of view that I can't believe reflects the average person. However, the average person can't even voice a moderate opinion now because they rightly fear of being targeted in the same way the Muslims are.
Since it's now such a high profile and sensitive topic I would ask the Muslims to simply move farther away, and avoid the unavoidable fall out. It's a no-win for all involved because it's also un-American and is counter to what the vocal extremists are fighting for and represent.
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