Nexilist Notebook

The Demise of Bin Laden

Burt — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:41:01 +0000

Some people are saying that our assination of Bin Laden was not in keeping with American principles. Technically, that is true. If we were treating him as a criminal, he should have been brought to trial before he was judged guilty and excuted. On the other hand: 1. His arrest and trial could have inflamed [...]

What next in Eqypt?

Burt — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:20:42 +0000

Well, the people of Eqypt have finally dislodged the US backed dictator Mubarek. What we don’t know is what will happen next. Revolutions have a way to dissolving into chaos. We were very lucky in founding this country. Look what happened in Russia and France. If the VP Suleiman takes Mubarek’s place, it would be [...]

The Insanity of Corporate Free Speech

Burt — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:30:11 +0000

The argument that corporations are entitled to the rights of people under the consitution is a terrible principle and has done great damage to our country and our world. The recent decision of the Supreme to allow unlimited coporate spending on issue ads prior to elections was absurd. Who speaks when a corporation “speaks?’ Whose [...]

Sinking in the Sand

Burt — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:53:43 +0000

There is a big debate going on about our involvement in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there are a lot of issues that don’t seem to be part of the conversation. The most populace tribe in Afghanistan is the Pashtun. They comprise about 40% of the population and inhabit the Northeast part of the country. The Western part [...]

The Confidence Game

Burt — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:45:41 +0000

Did you ever wonder why it was that there was so much over confidence out there? Look at the Iraq war, the financial collapse, etc. And the incompetence of organizations as lampooned in Dilbert is not that far from the truth. We all have stories of the problems of dealing with bureaucrats. Some time back [...]

Dancing with the Reaper

Burt — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:47:21 +0000

We are wired to pay attention to the dramatic and novel. Things that are slow, steady and familiar tend to fade out of our consciousness and concern. This is no where more true than our attitude towards death. 3,000+ died on 9/11 and the country freaked out. The patriot bill was passed, Afghanistan and Iraq [...]

Reading Between the Lines

Burt — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:51:48 +0000

We tend to think of nations as having some sort of coherence and permanence although we know that nations come and go in the sweep of history. Something about naming things makes us believe that they have some sort of permanence. There are new nations in some areas where humanity has lived in cities for [...]

Why believe?

Burt — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:56:13 +0000

I have always been fascinated by the question of belief. Especially belief in things that are impossible to prove or disprove. I have wondered what the purpose of such beliefs would be. Recent speculation has suggested that a genetic predisposition to gullibility might enhance survival. This seems to defy common sense. You would think that the [...]

A Torturous Path

Burt — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:03:22 +0000

There has been a lot of debate about whether Bush and cronies should be prosecuted for serious crimes committed during there time in power. I have always been in favor of a full investigation followed by any prosecutions that are warrented. Obama and his people have repeatly agreed with this in a half-hearted way but [...]

Battle of the Sexes

Burt — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:59:15 +0000

I recently read an article about potential relative influence of the father’s genes versus the mother’s genes on a developing embryo. The theory held that the best outcome from the father’s point of view would be for the child to be as big as possible at birth to give it the best survival chance. The [...]