Pascal's Wager

A few days ago, I was talking “religion” and discussing the probabilities of life after death. I stayed away from discussing the existence of God, here we go today:

Possible? I really don't know; it could go either way. There's perhaps no such thing as “God” as organized religions see it, but some cosmic intelligence; would this qualify?
Probable? No way to really tell
Verifiable? Even if you die, there's really no way, unless God speaks to you directly, in which case you might want to see a shrink...
Conclusion: Pretty irrational, but you might consider weighing the pros and cons, familiarize yourself with Pascal's Wager, and if you buy into the concept, opt for some form of belief and gain something in the process.

Another debate

Last night, the republican candidates for president gave me another chance to seize the field and realized once more that the two front runners (Romney and Perry) sounded, looked and acted like robots, idiots and were a far cry from presidential material.

The two other candidates trailing in the polls, but worth mentioning were Ron Paul (for his opposition to the war we're entangled in at the moment) and Jon Hunstman (the only well-rounded individual in the whole group). I don't even want to mention the rest of the field...

(Barely) staying up and going backwards

Recently, as we were talking with our son, we were lamenting the declining state of the commercial airline experience. Remember, there was a time, not so long ago, when the flight attendants were nice to passengers, the food was edible, the airplanes clean and the other fellow passengers were civil too.

Also, airplanes weren't full all the time and I've done countless trips over the Atlantic or the Pacific in which I had the full center seats of a wide-body jet to myself and could enjoy a nice sleep. More fortunate folks could also enjoy the speed of supersonic flight over certain routes. Not anymore! Air travel is going to the dogs and I don't see any action in the work to resurrect the old romance of flying. Save these old posters!

What 9/11 means to me...

Ten years ago, I was alone in our Vail, Colorado, apartment when I first heard about the attack on the radio. I immediately turned on the TV and watch incredulously as the events took a turn for the worst. My first, instinctive reaction was to think “that's revenge for all the misery we've inflicted the Palestinian people...” Some might argue with that statement, but I still believe that I was spot on.

After that, we embarked into a war that still goes on in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan at a cost to us, the taxpayers, of about $3.7 trillion, killing about 225,000 individuals, not counting the injured, and creating 7.8 million refugees by the time the conflicts end, according to a recent report released by Brown University.

Was that price worth it? Absolutely not in my opinion. We should have used special forces, hunted down bin Laden and that would have been quick and fairly easy. Instead, what we did was like using a huge bulldozer to level a tiny ant-hill. It just gave Bush-Cheney a political platform and ruined our Nation. This anniversary is a sad day indeed for our Country.

About Obama's job plan

We heard it on radio and didn't watch President Obama's speech on his new plan for creating job and were not that impressed. What we liked about it was his admonition to congress to act now instead of playing politics for another 14 month, but we thought there was no revolutionary idea in what he said that would significantly “move the needle” in these bleak times. The first thing this economy needs is a willingness from both parties to working together. We're not there yet.

We're still in the bickering phase and while Cantor and Boehner are getting concerned about the GOP painting itself into a corner and potential losses in 2012, their GOP presidential candidates are staying at the opposite end of the spectrum and are still bashing the President for everything he's done, said and intend to do. A turn-around in the Nation's economic destiny must go by a truce between our two opposing parties and has to take the form of significant concessions on the part of the right which has been following an obstructionist path since Obama was elected. Failing such a drastic change, we're in for more descent into the economic and moral abyss...

Nation-building... in America!

Crossing Nevada from Utah to California (or vice-versa) can only be done in three ways: Thru I-80, the more boring and direct crossing, through Highway 50, also dubbed “the loneliest road in America” that is something most (smart) people only accomplish once in their lifetime or south, through Highway 6 that is by far the most scenic, allows 70 mph most of the way and is punctuated by only two major old mining towns, Tonopah and Ely.

Another town worth noting is McGill, located just north of Ely and this is one of these miserable-looking places that can be found in many American rural spots. McGill happens to be a census-designated place, which is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. It's a town of 1,054 people, with a median
income for household of $32,039 and more than 10% of its population below the poverty line, which means that Nation-building belongs right here; not in Afghanistan!

Return to Mammoth Mountain

The exit route out of Yosemite, via Tioga Pass, brought us to the Eastern slope of the Sierras and we decided to stop at Mammoth Lakes for the night. The mountains are spectacular and there was still snow left on top, showing off this past winter moguls...

As a community, Mammoth Lakes in another hodgepodge of architectural styles and an admission of poor urban planning, yet we enjoyed the stay. I had not been there for at least 27 years and my wife skied there in 1978. I promised myself to return there, midweek, next May for some serious skiing!