jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: May 2010
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010_05_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Wednesday, May 19, 2010. It’s not likely that many people deliberately say to themselves, “ I think I’ll stay ignorant about .” More likely, they find themselves too busy to be bothered with some subject or other. Or, knowing little about a subject, they don’t see how it can either help or hurt them. They don’t take the time to find out any more about it. On the other hand, those who minimize their stress an...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: February 2010
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Monday, February 22, 2010. What does emergency care really cost? We all have seen the reports of how much it cost to have uninsured people using emergency rooms for general medical problems. But what are these costs really in the sense of the hospital actually losing money? Secondly, for tax purposes, do hospitals use these inflated individual charges for the purpose of tax deductions? Thirdly, unless the vo...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: September 2010
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Thursday, September 23, 2010. Small solutions to energy problem. Small solutions to the energy problem. I was watching a panel discussion on the energy problem and how it might be resolved. This panel had big (i.e. important) people on it, (including an Assist Secretary of Energy), and was discussing big solutions that would cost big money and require big legislative approvals. In the instance of the energy ...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: January 2010
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Numbers are funny things. Now that we’re in the midst of the torrent of numbers justifying or repudiating the proposed health insurance reform, it may be time to give numbers a thought. And not only for this instance but for every instance where numbers are used to support or oppose some proposal. Their format and context is meaningful. In another example, voter turnout in an are...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: November 2009
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Saturday, November 21, 2009. Afghanistan, why are we there? But, look at the record. We’ve been there for at least 8 years and the Afghan government hasn’t been able to field a credible army of its own. How many years do we have to wait before we can decide they’ll either make it on their own or they won’t? Our prime political rational for staying is also that we can’t give al Queda a base in which it ...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: December 2009
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Wednesday, December 30, 2009. We’re perfect, at least I am, and expect everyone else to be perfect too. Whenever there’s an incident like the recent Christmas attempt to bomb a plane, we immediately begin looking for who’s at fault. And being at fault usually means not being perfect. Given the ways of human nature and probability, rules, procedures and regulations are not created by the incompetents at one e...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: The power of print
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010/10/power-of-print.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Thursday, October 21, 2010. The power of print. I was reading a newspaper article about performance scores in local schools. There were a number of times while reading the text I went back to an included table of information to confirm statements. The internet may be more flexible to read and double check than broadcast media, but only if the information is available. The paradox is that information which is...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: Paradox in solving economic situation
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010/10/paradox-in-solving-economic-situation.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Wednesday, October 6, 2010. Paradox in solving economic situation. Every program eliminated results in less money going to someone. These some ones then lose a paying job. This in turn increases unemployment and reduces the money available to various families to spend in the economy. Those who want to shrink government forget this means less of something. Are we willing to reduce the numbers of governmen...
jacksblog.balshaw.com
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom: March 2010
http://jacksblog.balshaw.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom. Alternative perspectives on political and socio-economic events. Friday, March 12, 2010. Small solutions to the energy problem. I was watching a panel presentation on the energy problem and how it might be resolved. This panel had big (i.e. important) people on it, (including an Assist Secretary of Energy), and was discussing big solutions that would cost big money and require big legislative approvals. Let me diverge here for an anecdote. But imagine what a different pan...
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