Rebane's Ruminations

‘Why the technical stuff?’

George Rebane

I was asked that question recently by a regular RR reader.  He went on to opine that not many of my readers would make the effort to understand all that high falootin’ stuff and just skip over it.  In short, I’m wasting time and effort in offering up such posts.  And, of course, he may be right.  When you’re selling, you never want to discount what a customer tells you.  And make no mistake about it, I am selling my little heart out here on RR.

As I later reflected on the reader’s question, it occurred to me that it’s been some years now since I posted anything on the larger purpose and objective(s) for flogging the keyboard and debating various esoteria with RR commenters.  Being a rewarded lifelong teacher has provided some intrinsic impetus to this enterprise – first in the Army, then with my kids and grandkids (no claims of success there), as a professional engineer/scientist/academic, and now again working with high schoolers.

RR is structured to continuously build on what has been written and discussed before in its pages.  I attempt to back-link all of its pieces to their appropriate ancestors, in addition to the usual outside references.  To the extent that this is successful, RR is an accumulating body of thought offered by me, and subsequently expanded and critiqued by the blog’s commenters.  Relatively few pieces here start out of whole cloth.  I make a considerable and not always successful effort to circle the barn as few times as possible; previous orbits on any given topic are always available by searching RR through its built in function or with an engine like Google (just add ‘rebane’ to the keyword list, and voila!).

Ideologically I am a conservetarian, promoting a careful and hopefully coherent amalgam of conservative and libertarian thought as seen through the Austrian lens.  For good or ill, I am an elitist.  I know I cannot reach everyone with all possible ideas/notions through my heartfelt diatribes, so I just try to target and contend with a small number of interested readers, all of whom should evince that they have at least three solid digits in their IQ.  In that and other things, I am terribly incorrect according to the dominant political perspective of the day as spouted by both Republicans and Democrats.

A Cut at 'Rational Optimism'

George Rebane

A friend and correspondent who shares many of my worldviews sent me a link to science writer Matt Ridley's hopeful piece on "seventeen reasons to be cheerful".  RR readers of these pages know that I am of the opinion that the western world is now beyond the tipping point, that we are headed for a gut-wrenching redirection of civilization at the rapidly approaching confluence of dysfunctional political ideologies, accelerating technology, and wholesale popular 'dumbth' (q.v.).  Ignoring many substantiating facets of this argument, Ridley gives us a salutary view of how we got here, and a very optimistic look into our future.  While definitely blindered, the seventeen reasons will nevertheless  bring cheer to some readers who judge my glass to be excessively dark.  Enjoy.

A Postscript for the IRS

George Rebane

In my long career I have experienced uncounted communications with the IRS in the corporate world, through the non-profits seeking to do good, and on personal tax matters.  Now, it’s no secret that the IRS is populated with some of the dimmest and nastiest bulbs in the federal firmament who have no idea how the wealth is created that keeps the nation’s wheels turning, including those big wheels of the federal government they unwittingly serve (and these numbers are about to be increased by thousands more to enforce the diktats of Obamacare).

I suggest that, to help draw attention to the damage these bureaucrats cause to the body politic and the public weal, every communication with the IRS should end with a postscript that summarizes and draws attention to the gratuitous and punishing costs they impose on us and our economic enterprises.  A suggested draft could be worded as follows –

‘P.S.  The work to complete and transmit this reply has cost me/organization xx staff hours in deciphering your original request, researching information required for reply, consulting with tax professionals, filling the appropriate forms, and returning them to you.  The direct dollar cost of just this one unproductive effort is approximately $xx, a sum which could have been used for more profitable purposes in furthering my/organization’s objectives, and securing the jobs this company provides.’

Administrivia - 25mar12

George Rebane

Dear Readers, I have returned from a two week sojourn to warmer climes.  Great times, many insights, and good conversations with new people, but lousy connectivity in the RV parks where we parked our little trailer - reliable wi-fi seems to be climbing the same slow ladder of availability that phones experienced a century ago.  Apologies for the sparse postings and sparser comments.  Thank you for continuing the discussions as the election season heats up in the midst of major events starting with SCOTUS on Obamacare, and an eerie silence from Israel (almost as if there were some preparations going on).

An Ideal Politician

George Rebane

[This is the transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 9 March 2012.]

If you were to spell out some attributes of an ideal and laudable politician, what would they be?  I’ve thought about this for some time now, especially as these attributes might apply to the local and statewide people we elect.  My own list has three main points which I’ll label ‘Don’t Add Pain’, ‘Sunset and Tune’, and ‘Just Say NO’.

Wood fires

George Rebane

We have always had lots of firewood and kept a fire going in the fireplace most of the year.  As a camper and backpacker, I have made a fire or two in the woods over the decades.  And I've often been asked about how I build and maintain a reliable and long-burning wood fire.  As a techie, I started studying the behavior of small fires at an early age, and here I distill my approach to the care and feeding of indoor and outdoor wood fires - Download 'On making and maintaining a wood fire'.  In any event, it's a diversion to the usual stuff that appears in these pages.

Christmas 2011

George Rebane

[This message was first posted on Christmas Eve 2009.]

The two main events in the Christian calendar are celebrations of the Promise and the Fulfillment.  Christmas calls on us to reflect on the Promise delivered - the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us, that made real what had long been promised.  By His appearance among us, the Promise of the good news and a new covenant of salvation between Man and God became an historical event.  He had come.

As Christians, we take great joy in the remembrance of that little noticed event two thousand years ago, an event that would alter the course of Man and his empires.  Today, in our own country and around the world, Christians again stand battered and confused by forces and events we scarcely understand.  But Christmas reminds us once more of the real hope for a better world in which we, in His image, will all have the freedom to grow and give according to the talents and opportunities afforded us.

Jo Ann and I wish all of you a joyous Christmas, and a new year where ‘Better!’ will properly respond to every ‘How are you?’ coming your way.

Administrivia - TypePad is sick

George Rebane

Dear Readers - TypePad, the server of RR, is beset with many problems as it has now made some of them known to its subscribers.  They promise that they are diligently working to bring things back to normal.  We shall see.

In the interval, some readers notice that there is no comment box displayed below my post or the last comment.  That fault is corrected when you sign in with Google or one of the other alternatives presented.

Again I apologize for not taking the earlier advice of friends and colleagues to migrate RR to a more reliable platform.  Rest assured that with the passage of the holidays, Plan B will be implemented.  Meanwhile, your continuing efforts to post comments are greatly appreciated.

Administrivia - RR hacked

George Rebane

Recently RR has been getting more and more spam comments from surreptitious merchants and other low-lifes.  I understand this often happens when a blog starts generating good numbers.  It takes some doing every morning to clean them out.  I'm not sure what to do about it but I have pulled the switch on requiring commenters to sign in.  I don't know whether that is better than my mediating the comments, I will try that next.  Please let me know (gjrebane@gmail.com), and thanks for your patience.

Bob Crabb Nails Christmas

[This cartoon by Nevada County's irreverent interpreter of all things human and RR regular, RL 'Bob' Crabb, appears in its usual slot on the Tuesday opinion page in the 13dec11 Union (here).  I just had to filch it for readers who might otherwise have missed this precise pique through the heart of the perennial political season.  gjr]