I’m sure someone has already branded this phrase but on the off chance it hasn’t let me lay claim to it. De-evolution and divergence is a fairly simple concept/theory. It says that mankind is no longer evolving as a single species, rather two or more branches will ultimately emerge in possibly as short as a couple of thousand years.

Now I’m no Darwin and this doesn’t agree with his theory but in a sick sort of way it is an extension of the idea that animals (yes we are animals) adapt to their environment and make subtle adjustments to their physiology through activities and purpose. In fact I will be so bold to say this is just a logical extension of his work. Stay with me here.

Darwin while a well travelled and intelligent person observed the natural world and applied his findings across all species. Darwin had neither the breadth or depth of information available to us as modern humans. Not only do I have the advantage of the clif notes of his knowledge, but a fantastic amount of other information including an unimagined amounts of information compared to his time.

Let me be clear that I’m not talking about physical evolution as Charles was so enthralled with but more on  the mental side. Basically man has no natural predators except each other and in our present state of existance, little in the way of a serious physical challenges. The majority of human beings have a fairly cushy life. I will concede that I believe Darwin’s theory still applies to certain subsets of humans. Those in Africa and third world backwards places that are still challenged by physical environment. No, my theory is more to do with modern humans that do not have those environmental challenges.

My assertion is that the survival of the fittest has shifted to material possession and not that of the physical domination, top of the food chain, and smarter than other critters theory of evolution. It is clear to me that a significant portion of humans are loosing the smarter than other critters advantage. So much of our existence in the US is automatic. Only a portion of our species strives to excel, to create, to succeed. The rest are content, well maybe content is not the word but, to live with the status quo. No challenge, no need to adapt and so no evolution. De-evolution then asserts that not only are a large part of humans, stagnant but indeed they are going backwards.

Think about this the next time some lame brain cuts you off in traffic or some stupid jerk does something totally outrageous. More on this in later posts, I just wanted to lay claim as the originator of the theory. I invite you to prove me right or wrong.

PEACE!!

The Sage

A friend of mine has been greatly amused by a statement that ex Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made while attempting to describe intelligence efforts and analysis for the quagmire known as Iraq:

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know”.

Coming from a man who is known for his Yogi Berra type statements this appears on the surface to be his normal way of saying much without saying anything. However if the following statement had been added I could argue profound wisdom. “There are unknown knowns. These are things we think we know but are actually unknowns”. This would be to admit that there are things we think we know based on either bad assumptions or faulty intelligence that turn out to be untrue. Kind of like the known WMD’s in Iraq that turned out to be total bullshit.

Think about the profoundness of realizing that some of the “facts” we assume are true could turn out to be false or at least grossly inaccurate. Of course we can’t go through life assuming that our “facts” are or could be, false. We would be constantly doubting and fretting over things that we shouldn’t because we could be wrong. This is what we call faith. Believing that what we know we know is indeed true.

The problem is of course there are WAY too many people out there with faith that their knowledge is complete and accurate . Being in Information Technology, I see this all the time. The user is convinced they know something based on incomplete knowledge or understanding and argue with a knowledgeable IT technician about some problem they are having with their computer.

And how about that genius you are working for. You know the one that never leaves you wondering as to how the fuck they got into their current position. I read an interesting article some years ago that I can’t reference but the synopsis is that some high level executives get to their position by being lucky rather than good. They are basically incompetent boobs that present themselves and knowing all. Because they don’t know that they don’t know, they are unafraid of making risky decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Because of timing or shear luck this decision turns out to be correct and they are labeled “visionary”, “gifted” or “owns a crystal ball”. Now if they are shrewd and understand they don’t really know, then they surround themselves with qualified and talented people and the next thing you know, they are CEO.

Then there are the ones that never realize they are incompetent as hell, they continue recklessly making hasty and risking decisions, some of which turn out to be wrong. They never make it to CEO but are kept around since they have been right sometimes. They are usually slick enough to baffle the big boss with bullshit. You know, just like the guy you work for. By the way ladies, I use the word guy as a genderless term. I find this more and more to be the case with departmental managers that are promoted because they have been there forever. Not that they are talented people who can come up with innovative process improvements, oh no its because they have done the same thing for years and appear to be competent. Get them outside their comfort zone they flounder, not knowing anything about managing people or coming up with new ideas. Rather than admit they don’t know they choose to fake it through misdirection, scapegoating or blaming others. It often takes years to sniff these bozos out.

I have been hampered over the years in my career as the devil’s advocate or as an obstructionist because I have raised valid points counter to the main stream thinking. I won’t say that I was right on every single one but a case in point involved our leaders in the Tennessee bureaucracy. I was an engineer on the ConnecTN project sponsored by then Governor Ned McWhorter. I was “on loan” to the task force as a representative of the TN Board of Regents. We were supposed to figure out a way to get Internet access to all 96 TN counties by a September of 1996. We started in March and I naturally doubted the success of such a far flung project in 6 months but the Governor said make it happen so we tried.

A colleague of mine had a wonderful idea to revamp and modify the existing TBR network which already had a presence in about 75% of the counties. We lobbied for this solution only to be shot down by the big dogs at OIT and BellSouth who had much to gain with the new system. They began to buy equipment based on ISDN which I did not support. Aside from the obvious logistical and time constraints, there was no decent project plans, the technology had scaling limitations, and it seemed that chaos reigned. At a meeting at the “Bat Building” (Bellsouth’s headquarters in Nashville) with representatives form OIT, TBR, UT, BellSouth, and the Governors office to discuss progress, I was asked by the Governors representative what I thought about the progress. I told her the truth and later found out that I had been kicked off the task force as being too negative. No skin off my nose, I went about my business but I will tell you that millions were spent and they finally did get it going,,,,, in Septemer of 2000.

The point is that these were supposed “experts”. The finest the State of TN could muster and yet they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Never mind that a highly qualified engineer and project manager had expressed doubts and pointed out obvious faults. No I’m not bitter here, this is long dead horse as far as I’m concerned but a good example of what I’m saying.

So for all you experts out there, make sure you look at all options and objections especially from someone who normally right. The worst case is that you examine their evidence and it turns out you were right. Worst case, he was right and you save your project before it collapses. By the way my definition of an expert is: ex = has been, spert = a drip under pressure. As we have seen in the last few years, truth is always relevant and rarely unbiased. Everyone has expertise and knowledge and just because you are a medical doctor does not mean you know everything about computers. I don’t know tell you how to treat a patient, don’t tell me how to setup a file share.

Listen and learn, have you ever learned anything while you were talking?

PEACE!
The Sage

As the ghostly apparition of Obi Wan tried to explain to young Luke Skywalker, truth is relevant. It all depends on your point of view. We have all heard the old saying “perception is reality” and unfortunately too many people treat that as a truism. While we all tend to treat our experiences and conscience as our guides for believing what is true and what is not, let us all agree that there has to be some objective point where we can say that one thing is true and another is false.

Not so simple you say, and of course you would be correct. So many truths are not so black and white. All too often decisions and beliefs run into the gray area, that dark, nebulous region we know as emotions. We can’t bring ourselves to move outside that area of comfort that makes us so sure of our convictions and perceptions of truth. If there is anything I’ve learned in my time on this earth, people do not want to admit they are ignorant of anything much less that they could possibly be wrong about something. Especially something they think they know something about or something that represents what they perceive to be incorruptible. Like our government for example.

Have you ever heard of NSPD /51 HSPD 20? Take a look at this link and then consider how W and the neocons could use this to to their advantage. What would happen if another 9/11 type event occurred and say W and his boyz blamed it on Iran? My guess, that place would look like Iraq in a short period of time and any of us truthhounds would swiftly be put away in the detention camps for non-patriots and enemy sympathizers.

What NSPD/51 HSPD 20 means is that anytime the President feels like the country has suffered a catastrophic emergency. They didn’t have it place on 9/11 but he is going to make sure that little detail is not overlooked the next time. I call again on you to take action and write to your representatives asking them to explain why they have allowed such a blatant path for W and his neoconvicts to effectively suspend the constitution and take over.

We the People will never believe this because their reality would never allow for a corrupt government. They would rather sit idly by thinking this will never happen to me that reach outside that sphere of their reality to consider that some people are not guided by the same moral fabrics most of us live by.

Now we are told by our fearless speaker Ms Pelosi that impeaching Bush “isn’t worth it”. Excuse me but the welfare of our country is damn well worth it regardless of what she thinks. Another perception problem is that we thought we threw the bums out last November only to find out that the dumbocrats are just as incompetent. We are not going to clear this up until we vote all the bums out or change our system. This great country was formed by revolution and I perceive that its time for another. Take back our country, support the national initiative.

Peace!

The Sage

One of my favorite pet peeves is these morons that we continue to allow to drive on our roads. Since I do lots & lots of miles me and the missus get to see all kinds of meatheads. While Nashville isn’t the most crowded or populous and they generally are better drivers than other places like Atlanta, drivers still fall into the same basic categories.

• Speed demon & lane hoppers – these pukes are the most contemptuous and the most dangerous. With total disregard for speed limits or other people, they drive like total maniacs swerving in and out of lanes only to get two car lengths ahead of you.
• Young and ignorant – inexperienced drivers are more likely to be in the wrong lane or inattentive to what they are doing. They also fall into the distracted category.
• Old and frightened – Ok I know old people need to go get food, go to the doctor, visit friends, etc but do they have to do it during morning rush hour? Not only are they scared to death (and rightly so) but they are also old and obstinate and really don’t give a shit what we think.
• Racers/ NASCAR syndrome – these folks don’t necessarily fall into the speed demon category rather they are the ones that when you are cruising along at 74 mph on cruise control and you catch them and attempt to pass, they speed up. Absolutely irks the crap out of me. They are also the ones that don’t use cruise control at all because a real NASCAR racer doesn’t use cruise control. It also seems that they do it just to piss me off.
• Distracted – another particularly dangerous group that includes cell phone users, people that read while driving, PDA or blackberry typing, and I’ve even seen women who drive with their knee are talking on a cell phone AND putting on mascara. While their coordination is admirable, I resent them riskinh my life along with theirs
• Contemptuous – These assholes do things just to piss you off. They are the ones that pull out in front of you then take their sweat ass time getting up to speed. Or they get into the left lane and purposely speed up, slow down and tap their breaks and force you to come off the cruise control. These narcissistic assholes should be publicly flogged.

Sure we all pull a bonehead move every now and then but most of these jerks are so empowered by their anonymity that they act totally different in a car than who they really are. They figure you will never see them again, you don’t know who they are, you have no power to stop them and they can take out their pitiful inadequacies on you. Also a 2,000 lb vehicle or even worse a big old truck empowers a person with horsepower, freedom and for once a sense of control & independence.

Another reason that causes such behavior is the pressure of everyday life. People are late, they are in a hurry and have a hundred other things on their mind. At least thats what they tell themselves. Thats all bullshit, instead of thinking and planning out their days, they blame everyone else for their problems. They take their stupidity out on the rest of us.

I have an idea to solve this insane driver problem although it will never be accepted but you after you read this I think you might agree in principle. You know those paint ball guns that are popular for practicing killing each other for real instead of on video? Well if every time some asshole pulls a bonehead move, those around them tag their car with a paint ball. That way if they are a real asshole they will have plenty of paint splats on their car and the cops can write em up for being asshole drivers.

I know, I know, this requires honest evaluation of someone’s driving skills and there are those that would abuse the idea and blast innocent drivers. Then there are those that would probably use the real thing but you got to admit the satisfaction of blasting someone with paint balls after they cut you off in traffic would be close to sexual.

No real point to this story other than to bitch and moan. We all need to be more considerate of others on the road. Also, use your cruise control. Just think about it. If we all did exactly 70 or 75 and kept the cruise on, you would never catch up, pass or be cut off again. Of course this assumes that most people could be logical and consider such a concept. But as we all know, 75 to 80% of people in this world are just plain STUPID! So I guess you and I are doomed to put up with lunatic drivers.

Peace !!
The Sage

Let us assume for a moment that we actually did go to Iraq to take the battle to the terrorists, eliminate the WMD threat, and to free the Iraqi people from a brutal dictatorship. I know its a hard sell but bear with me for a minute. The question would still be a resounding WHY!?!?!?!?!

The Thousands Year War continues in the Middle East with much of the the same theological conflict, assassinations, and power struggles that have been going on since the beginning of time. Anyone not aware of this would be professing ignorance of the greatest historical documents ever assembled. I am of course talking about the Holy Bible. So our President who says he is a “devout Christian” has obviously not been paying attention, again. From Genesis to Revelations, the books are filled with violence, oppression, political aspirations, intrigue, you name it its in there. Not that I rely totally on the Bible as a historic fact, but I’m using something the neocons can’t dispute without blowing their cover.

Why would anyone think we can export our Western values and morals and harbor expectations that we could quickly pacify everyone with a Walmart in every ghetto? What kind of stooge would think that we could remove the only vestige of discipline (that would be Saddam) that the Iraqis have ever known and expect them all to line up for conversion to good old USA philosophy? Well obviously someone sold We the People on the concept and we bought it hook, line and sinker. Let it be known that I have never been nor will I ever be supportive of our country’s involvement in Iraq. Even Afghanistan though equally full of good intentions and ideals will result in the same quagmire. We are nothing short of occupiers and that will continue to fester and breed contempt. Since W was playing hooky from the Guard and obviously didn’t hang with any military types, the lessons of Vietnam are lost on him and his boyz.

The argument that we stay and win is lunacy. If you expect “Victory” to be when they all line up in the new downtown Walmart, forget it, it ain’t gonna happen. Not in our lifetimes anyway. Let’s face it, the various factions of Islam are going to continue to be at war with each other just like they have been for all of recorded history. Only the various dynasties and dictatorships of Egypt, Rome and the Ottomans have been able to brutally force a brittle and fragile truce. Even now the demographics of a country provide majority populations as with Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and Iran (Shia). I will leave it to you to compare the methodology that either of these countries now employ to keep the peace. Throw their mutual admiration for the Israelis into the equation and you have a real mess.

Back to point in Iraq – Shia and Sunni are both Muslim people yet they fight over the most ridiculous reasons. Do you realize why they brutally kill, torture and abuse each other? It is akin to Baptist and Methodists killing each other because the differ over a few basic religious philosophies. Time Magazine has a really good summary piece I highly recommend for the uninformed. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1592849,00.html

The divisions in all major hotspots of that volatile area defy logic, cases in point include: Hamas vs Fatah in the Palestinian crisis and Lebanon’s situation with Hezbulah is no different. They can’t even decide amongst themselves so just like the well intentioned playground referee, we step in to help them settle it. You remember the playground referee don’t you? The guy who always interjected themselves into every conflict and everyone’s business. Don’t you remember, you didn’t like them did you? Well neither do the people of the middle east.

The moral of this story is simple. Just like the proverbial horse and water, we can’t force our beliefs, culture, and logic on people who have no conception of what we are even trying to give them. Even though we are lucky enough to live in a country where Walmarts aren’t always revered it just demonstrates the opulence and decadence we come to expect as “Americans”. In a place where you need to dodge gun battles to go get bread for your table, how can we expect them to even vaguely understand the rewards of our society. They don’t have the wealth of information, multimedia and propaganda that tell us how great we have it. Even if they did, it would probably be revolting to their version of morality.

We have to begin phased pullouts of Iraq immediately, to delay only means countless more precious young Americans will be sacrificed to the continued lunacy of this war. We have more important things to worry with at home to have delusions of nation building. What a bunch of arrogant clods We the People have elected to run our country. Take back our country, fire all the Liars!!

PEACE NOW!!

The Sage

After some time invested in brainstorming and researching, I make my tentative first step into the on-line world at large. While this blog doesn’t focus on a singular topic, it is generally intended to point out some of the more ridiculous lines of reasoning used by people who should know better.

As you might deduce from that statement, many of my initial posts will be centered on the outright lunacy going on in Washington D.C. these days. Other areas for exploration include information technology, security, stupid people, crazy drivers and even religion. You can assume that I am not politically correct but will try not to be too insensitive.

One of the first things I want to do is to start a little contest that will feed into one of my future stories. The first person that can correctly identify me will receive a free MP3 player. Of course those that have helped me with this are exempt. I know some of you techno nerds may take this as a challenge but it is not intended to be an insult to your abilities, just a little fun.

I invite any reasonable comments, suggestions or requests on the site and content, but reserve the right to ignore whoever I choose for whatever reason.

A few initial hints on my identity are fairly obvious: I live in the southern United States and I am a Mac user forced to live in a Windows world. Anyway, just wanted to get something out there for testing and first steps. Hope to here from you soon.

The Sage