Sharing Thoughts and Ideas - 2019 and newer

 Submitted for publication in the Prior Lake American, May 7, 2019: A whole new field in the study of economics has developed in recent years, that of “behavioral economics”. This involves how our unconscious biases affect our economic decisions and which result in our making choices that are not optimal. For example, most people avoid losses more than they seek gains, even if the losses and gains are equal. A similar field of study is how cognitive biases affect our political thinking. Cognitive biases are shortcuts in our thinking that are often useful, but which make our judgments irrational and/or lack objectivity. See https://yourbias.is/ for a useful list of 24 such cognitive biases. Here are the ones that appear to most affect our political thinking. Because of “confirmation bias” we tend to seek out information that confirms our opinions and ignore or dismiss information that is inconsistent with those beliefs. The algorithms of Facebook and Google tend ...

First, I would take issue with anything called a "debate" when both are climate skeptics.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGXb9X2Dho  "State of the Climate Debate: Patrick Michaels and Judith Curry" October 13, 2014. Second, both have credibility issues, with both funded by fossil fuel companies. Michaels was one of the skeptics about the hole in the ozone layer, again saying we don't need to do anything, but was proven wrong (as documented in "Merchants of Doubt"). When one gets on the speaker circuit opposing something as a paid witness, I get skeptical. As a State Representative, I reviewed many dozens of studies on a number of issues. Purely by coincidence, I am sure, the studies always concluded with findings that supported the position of the organization that funded the study. (sarcasm) So, you need to be able to read the reports, and also the opposing views, and evaluate the use of statistics and other evidence to discern what really...

Their prescription: " To address these issues, policymakers should enact a 2016 package developed by a Bipartisan Policy Center  commission  (of which I was a member). The plan would raise the payroll tax cap substantially, raise the payroll tax rate by 1% over 10 years for both employees and employers, and increase the income taxation of Social Security benefits for high-income households. It would change the way Social Security calculates inflation to better reflect price changes. To encourage people to work longer, the full retirement age would rise by one month every two years starting in 2022 until it reaches 69 in 2070." " Social Security is drying up. This plan could save it ," By William G. Gale for   CNN Business   Perspectives Updated 9:23 AM ET, Sat April 27, 2019 You can come up with your own plan  on the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget website  http://www.crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer/  . Play with the factors below ...

(or, My Adventures in Africa Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro) (slight variation of the lyrics of "Because I Got High", by Afroman) (These adventures were in March, 2019. at the age of 69.) "Pole Pole" (translation: "slowly") That was the theme of my trip to Africa.  Because I had frequently been at attitudes at which altitude sickness was a concern, I chose first to arrive in Arusha, Tanzania, the jumping of point for the climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, a day early, to begin acclimatization at about 4593' elevation. In Arusha I explored the  National Natural History Museum (which explained the origin of man, as m any of the oldest human fossils were found in Tanzania ), the markets, and just did some walking around. It got to about 90 degrees each afternoon.  There was vehicular traffic, but nowhere near the congestion I saw the month earlier in Delhi, India. However, you would see motorcycles loaded with all sorts of materials, most of which you...

Putting Human Faces to Climate Change and the Rotary “4 Way Test” Submitted for publication in the Prior Lake American and the Rotary Magazine The term “climate change” is an impersonal, ambiguous term, with negative impacts to “humanity” around the world. But on a recent trip to Tanzania in Africa I met some of the innocents who will be most affected by the increased droughts caused by the changes in climate resulting from increased human caused emissions of carbon dioxide. On a 10 day biking safari to visit Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, we camped in a school yard in a Maasai village west of Arusha, Tanzania. Three boys came to visit, and after giving them some treats, I took their photo with my phone. I showed them the photo, and a boy about 8 or 9 years old gestured to me he would like to hold the phone. So, I showed him how to take a photo with it and handed it to him. I also taught him how to take selfies and videos. Before long a group of about 15 kids wer...

Thinking about adding solar panels to your home? With the cost of renewable energy sources going down, it is getting more affordable. Read on how good it can be. I am concerned about the effects of climate change and was eager to investigate an alternative to the power we are getting from our electrical supplier, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative. But, I always wanted it to make economic sense, so I did a lot of investigation. I received quotes from 5 companies (and ultimately, multiple quotes for different makes and models of panels from two of the most competitive installation companies). The cost per “nameplate” watt ranged from $2.82 to $3.81. I did the comparisons on “nameplate” watts (the watts per panel times the number of watts) because the quotes had widely varying estimates of electrical production based on percentage loss of production due to snow, shading, clouds, degradation rates of the panels, etc., making comparisons meaningless based solely on the sal...