Site Maintenance
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I haven't been feeling too good lately (and yes, I know that's not correct grammar), so I've been spending a lot of time sleeping. No blogging, no essays in the works, lots of movies on TV that I only saw part of because I kept dozing off. I've done a bit of re-arranging on the sidebar. Added a few links to guys whose writing I admire. I also took the time to put together a team for the Fox Sports World EPL fantasy league. My team is heavy on Liverpool players, which reflects my eternal (and probably unfounded) optimism about Liverpool's chances this year. Not that anyone cares, but I may post my standings this year, just for fun. In past years, out of a few thousand playing, I managed to break into the top 100 a couple of times. So, we'll see what happens. I actually have had the time to think about a couple of things while dozing, and I realize I should re-write the "Why am I doing this" essay. When I wrote it I was dealing with some serious Cognitive Dissonance about my ideas and beliefs, but didn't really grasp the nature of the problem. It's something that Thomas Kuhn called a paradigm shift: when the data from observation can no longer be reconciled with the existing theory and something fundamentally different has to be created to take its place. When I wrote that essay, I was in the middle of realizing that the real world data I had didn't fit what I professed to believe about the world. The catalyst in this case was the impending war in Iraq, and once I realized I had to re-think my position on that issue, it created a cascade effect which I am still experiencing. I'm not sure when I will get to it. There is also a second essay (at least) which directly follows from the "why" essay, which I've tentatively titled: Why I am no longer a Liberal, and am now even more of a liberal. I'm sure everyone out there just can't wait for that one. by Cziltang 
Posted: Friday, August 15 2003 11:19:54 PM

Alternative Housing
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Twenty or more years ago, I read an article in the Mother Earth News about building houses out of hay bales. I thought it was interesting, but not something I would be willing to do, so I kind of forgot about it. If I remember correctly, they were one story dwellings with some kind of roof thrown over. I think they were considered mostly temporary housing for new homesteaders and back-to-the-land types. Other than a couple of pictures, I never saw or heard anything about them since. Two years ago when we went out to Oregon, I saw an unusual house in southeast Idaho. It was barely sunrise and I didn't see it clearly, but it stuck in my mind. This summer, we were on the same stretch of road later in the day on the way home. We pulled off the side of the road to take a look and got some pictures. Apparently, hay house technology has progressed in twenty years. This one obviously has two stories. I was puzzled by the grey color on part of the house. Later, one of my co-workers told me he had heard that hay houses are sometimes covered with stucco-like material to seal the outside. Anyway, there's no real point here, other than I just thought it was interesting. by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, August 11 2003 08:31:19 PM

Essay posted
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OK, it was bugging me, so I collected all 6 parts (in the correct order) of the Personal Responsibility essay and posted it on a separate page, accessible from the essay section, or you can go directly to it here.by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, August 11 2003 01:49:52 AM

Wrap-up
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I installed a CD burner today. I've never had one before. It's kind of nice, but I don't really need it, as I don't download music. (Not that I wouldn't, but with a dialup connection it is a pain. I tried to download a Grateful Dead show once, because the Dead gave permission for that sort of thing. I left the download running when I went to bed. It still wasn't finished when I got up. So I pretty much gave up on music downloads.) I did use it to make a complete archive copy of the entire web site, which is cool, but that leaves 699 MB of unused disk space, and I didn't know what I was doing, so I didn't set it up as a multiple session data transfer, so apparently the disc is now closed. Great. 1 MB of information on a 700 MB disc. I guess I just made a coaster. I finally finished part 6 of the personal responsibility essay. I'm OK with it, but it didn't quite flow like I wanted it to. I'll leave it alone for a while and take a look at it in a few weeks. VI. Where do we go from here? There are several things we could do. At the public level we could change the legal system. For example, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2 While it might be a nice thought, its probably not practical. I hear a lot about tort reform. The problem I have with tort reform is; how do you decide what to allow or not allow? I've heard talk of limiting damage amounts (both "actual" damages and punitive amounts). What I personally would like to see is limits on damage amounts and on punitive awards. I would also like to see attorney fees limited to 1% (or less) of the total award. You would think if an attorney got $10,000 instead of $350,000 on a million dollar judgement, the situation might improve some. Unfortunately, there are some problems with these ideas. First, they aren't likely to ever happen. Given the fair number of congressmen who are attorneys, limits on damages would be a miracle. And while limits on fees would be emotionally satisfying the idea is simply wishful thinking and probably exactly wrong. Besides being impossible to pass into law, it would probably encourage lawyers to seek truly astronomical awards thereby defeating the whole purpose of the idea. And, as for the folks who say the problem is just too damn many lawyers, in this instance I have to say (with some bitterness) we get what we deserve. The number of lawyers is simply a function of supply and demand. There wouldn't be all these lawyers if they couldn't make a living. And they do make a living, because almost all of us, down deep, can't resist the idea of something for nothing. (Look at the success of casinos and lotteries.) So, I'm not in favor of trying to change the rules of the legal system. Trying to "improve" the system is likely to make things worse. Probably the only way to change the system is for individuals to decide not to hire lawyers to get them compensation for whatever dubious (or not so dubious) suffering they might have experienced. Nothing will change until individuals take a stand and take responsibility for their own lives and refuse to allow others to avoid responsibility for theirs. I have a lot of faith in individual people. I have none at all in people in general, especially when you look out and see other people being compensated and an attorney is telling you he can get it for you too. So after all of this, while I deplore the situation we are in and where I think we're heading, demanding government action would be the same as the people I loathe who are out there trying to get the government to protect me from myself. Part of being personally responsible is the truth that change is up to us, not the government. We're screwed. by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, August 10 2003 05:11:11 PM