The quote below was taken from today’s (22 Sep 2009) The Writer’s Almanac, by Garrison Keillor.
"It was on this day in 1961 that Congress passed the Peace Corps Act.
"Kennedy first spoke about the idea of a Peace Corps in his final weeks of campaigning for the presidency. At 2 a.m. on October 14, 1960, after a long day of campaigning, the young senator stood on the steps in front of the student union at the University of Michigan. The journalists had gone home, thinking that nothing more would happen that day, but 10,000 students remained, hoping to see and hear Kennedy. He gave a short speech, in which he said:
"I think in many ways it is the most important campaign since 1933, mostly because of the problems which press upon the United States, and the opportunities which will be presented to us in the 1960s. The opportunity must be seized, through the judgment of the President, and the vigor of the executive, and the cooperation of the Congress. Through these I think we can make the greatest possible difference.
"How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete."
"Within two months of taking office, Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. Then, on this day, Congress authorized the executive order that Kennedy had signed, creating an agency whose purpose was "to promote world peace and friendship" by making available to interested countries American men and women "qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower."
Since the start of Peace Corps, 195,000 volunteers and trainees have served in 139 countries. Currently, there are more than 7,800 volunteers (60 percent of whom are female) serving abroad in 76 countries."
How different times were then when we barely elected a young, inspiring President, and in eight months the Congress easily approved a means to “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” What a difference fifty years makes. How far we have devolved.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
W Returns to Washington.
Sad, but true.
The Hotel Washington, just across the street from the Treasury Dept, thus only one short block from the White House, has been chomping on the bit to get their name change underway. However, they clearly could not do it until the previous administration was history. They did as soon as the mourning period was over, probably a few minutes after noon on January 21st.
The last day of AAAS Policy Fellow orientation started last Monday, 14 Sep, on the top floor of the W Hotel. The view of the National Mall and Federal Triangle from the rooftop terrace was similar to the Google satellite maps, but with higher resolution. We could see parts of the South Lawn of the White House, its South face, and the roof. A clear view of the roof showed it was guarded by several sharpshooters. [When someone started to call them snipers, we had an extended discussion with the outcome that we defined snipers as bad-guys and sharpshooters as good guys.]
Knowing the President was going to Wall Street that morning to lecture the Neo-Robber Barons, one of us looked up the Presidential calendar on the WH web site, which indicated that he was leaving at 9:55. When the time came, we quietly went out to the terrace, and waited, and waited, and waited, until the AAAS staff finally shooed us back in. The Marine helicopters landed on time, but they were more than a half hour late in leaving, so only the staff had the opportunity to see the choppers take off. Alas.
The Hotel Washington, just across the street from the Treasury Dept, thus only one short block from the White House, has been chomping on the bit to get their name change underway. However, they clearly could not do it until the previous administration was history. They did as soon as the mourning period was over, probably a few minutes after noon on January 21st.
The last day of AAAS Policy Fellow orientation started last Monday, 14 Sep, on the top floor of the W Hotel. The view of the National Mall and Federal Triangle from the rooftop terrace was similar to the Google satellite maps, but with higher resolution. We could see parts of the South Lawn of the White House, its South face, and the roof. A clear view of the roof showed it was guarded by several sharpshooters. [When someone started to call them snipers, we had an extended discussion with the outcome that we defined snipers as bad-guys and sharpshooters as good guys.]
Knowing the President was going to Wall Street that morning to lecture the Neo-Robber Barons, one of us looked up the Presidential calendar on the WH web site, which indicated that he was leaving at 9:55. When the time came, we quietly went out to the terrace, and waited, and waited, and waited, until the AAAS staff finally shooed us back in. The Marine helicopters landed on time, but they were more than a half hour late in leaving, so only the staff had the opportunity to see the choppers take off. Alas.
Rant
I miss my garden.
I wonder how it is doing. I was startled the other day when I looked down at my fingernails and saw them perfectly clean for the first time in years. I’ve hung around all those gardens near the National Mall for the last three weeks but have not gotten my hands dirty, literally. Yet, I am admonished every time I go to the Men’s Room, every time I read a directive from the White House, Dept of Health & Human Services, the CDC, the Surgeon General, and who knows who else, maybe the CIA and FBI, to wash my hands, wash them now. On one mirror, I was advised to wash them for 45 sec, on another 20 sec. I’ve been told to use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and to use it to open the door as I leave. It seems the fear-mongering of the previous administration that the enemy is out there somewhere has been replaced by fear-mongering that the enemy is here already, on our hands, and maybe we need to develop technologies that replace the hand entirely. And how do we protect ourselves from the open mouthed hackers on the Metro and in buses? Or, in this age of cube farms, from the effluvia from the other side of the padded wall.
I needed to get that out.
I wonder how it is doing. I was startled the other day when I looked down at my fingernails and saw them perfectly clean for the first time in years. I’ve hung around all those gardens near the National Mall for the last three weeks but have not gotten my hands dirty, literally. Yet, I am admonished every time I go to the Men’s Room, every time I read a directive from the White House, Dept of Health & Human Services, the CDC, the Surgeon General, and who knows who else, maybe the CIA and FBI, to wash my hands, wash them now. On one mirror, I was advised to wash them for 45 sec, on another 20 sec. I’ve been told to use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and to use it to open the door as I leave. It seems the fear-mongering of the previous administration that the enemy is out there somewhere has been replaced by fear-mongering that the enemy is here already, on our hands, and maybe we need to develop technologies that replace the hand entirely. And how do we protect ourselves from the open mouthed hackers on the Metro and in buses? Or, in this age of cube farms, from the effluvia from the other side of the padded wall.
I needed to get that out.
Odds & Ends
Another week in DC, actually starting work, and the pace accelerates.
Some have questioned whether I actually have a job here. Though I do not write much about it, I do, indeed, have a policy job here. Much of what I have been doing and learning is confidential, and this is not a blog to reveal those inner dealings of the gummint. When I have something that is both non-confidential and important I will bring it up. For instance, each week the US has 150+deaths from H1N1 (mostly children), and thousands of admissions to hospitals. Given all the hype over the flu, the vaccinations, the burden on the medical infrastructure, I am surprised that some fear monger hasn’t started shouting that number from a podium, talk show, or blog…Michele Bachmann, where are you on this.
The ‘hood. I moved into my apartment this weekend, a small place in the back of a townhouse in a quiet neighborhood off Connecticut Av. In NW DC. The good news—I walked the neighborhood, several miles down Connecticut and back, scouting out restaurants, stores, laundries, etc. that I will need on a regular basis in the coming year. The highlight of the day was a stop at Politics & Prose, an independent bookstore (http://www.politics-prose.com/). I arrived toward the end of the reading give by Tim Page, retired music critic at the Washington Post. This is an autobiography describing his discovery, at age 45, that he had been living with Aspergers disease all his life. The bad news—grocery shopping! Ugh! I waited until 9 p.m. to reduce the competition. I don’t remember ever making so many decisions in 90 minutes; however, as with eating a toad first thing every morning, the worst part of the day is over.
Returning from the grocery store, driving down Connecticut Av in Maryland, I was struck by how law-abiding, the locals were, clinging to 30 mph one and all. Then I noticed bright flashes of light and the sign, “Speed Limit Photo Enforced”. As soon as we crossed into DC it looked like the start of the Indy 500. I was left in their dust.
Lunch & Lobbying. It looks like one might eat free lunch on The Hill five days a week, at least when Congress is in session. I took advantage twice. One session was “The New Energy Economy” which dealt primarily with efficiency and demonstrated that increased efficiency is the low-hanging fruit that can reduce our generation needs by 30-50%. One of the striking graphs showed how refrigerator energy consumption was been reduced by 80% by the imposition of standards. Unfortunately, only refrigerators have energy standards, not TVs, microwaves, dishwashers, etc.
The other free lunch dealt with the advances in climate forecasting. In the past three years, computational advances have allowed higher resolution in forecasting, down to 3 km resolution. The panelists gave specific examples of forecasting April snow depth for the Rocky Mountains. Not only is this useful for the ski industry, but allows water-drought predictions for the following year. I also picked up a new work, hind-casting, which is using historic data to test a forecasting model. In other contexts, this has been called the training data set or test set. Hind-casting, so Inside the Beltway.
Diagonal Streets. Many cities have a few diagonal streets that break up the grid so common to Midwestern cities. Chicago has Milwaukee Av; Minneapolis, has Hiawatha. DC has all the state streets. L’Enfant intended these to be more than just decorative. In combination with the regular traffic circles that eventually became the homes of bronze generals and their retinue of pigeons, these streets were designed to help defend the Capitol. He envisioned artillery batteries stationed at each circle defending the city against an attacking army. I don’t know if his vision went as far as to see how all those little triangles of land that were too small to build on could become vest-pocket parks, but I am pleased that so many have become small green spots with trees, grass, benches, and the occasional bronze generals. During my walks from the State Dept to AAAS I came across several Latin-American generals, Simon Bolivar, Bernardo de Galvez, Jose de San Martin, for instance. Perhaps the nearby headquarters of the Organization of American States can explain this concentration of Hispanic generals.
Gardens. Near my office are several gardens that can serve as lunch spots—the US Botanic Gardens Conservatory and the outside gardens and one I just discovered—the Bartholdi Park (http://www.usbg.gov/gardens/barthodli-park.cfm). The centerpiece fountain is being restored, but the rest of the park is open and even features tables with umbrellas.
There is a sunken sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Gallery (http://hirshhorn.si.edu/) that is a real oasis. When the madding rush hour traffic is honking, breaking, and polluting just a few hundred feet away on Independence Av, all one can hear here is the chirping of birds and riffle of leaves.
Some have questioned whether I actually have a job here. Though I do not write much about it, I do, indeed, have a policy job here. Much of what I have been doing and learning is confidential, and this is not a blog to reveal those inner dealings of the gummint. When I have something that is both non-confidential and important I will bring it up. For instance, each week the US has 150+deaths from H1N1 (mostly children), and thousands of admissions to hospitals. Given all the hype over the flu, the vaccinations, the burden on the medical infrastructure, I am surprised that some fear monger hasn’t started shouting that number from a podium, talk show, or blog…Michele Bachmann, where are you on this.
The ‘hood. I moved into my apartment this weekend, a small place in the back of a townhouse in a quiet neighborhood off Connecticut Av. In NW DC. The good news—I walked the neighborhood, several miles down Connecticut and back, scouting out restaurants, stores, laundries, etc. that I will need on a regular basis in the coming year. The highlight of the day was a stop at Politics & Prose, an independent bookstore (http://www.politics-prose.com/). I arrived toward the end of the reading give by Tim Page, retired music critic at the Washington Post. This is an autobiography describing his discovery, at age 45, that he had been living with Aspergers disease all his life. The bad news—grocery shopping! Ugh! I waited until 9 p.m. to reduce the competition. I don’t remember ever making so many decisions in 90 minutes; however, as with eating a toad first thing every morning, the worst part of the day is over.
Returning from the grocery store, driving down Connecticut Av in Maryland, I was struck by how law-abiding, the locals were, clinging to 30 mph one and all. Then I noticed bright flashes of light and the sign, “Speed Limit Photo Enforced”. As soon as we crossed into DC it looked like the start of the Indy 500. I was left in their dust.
Lunch & Lobbying. It looks like one might eat free lunch on The Hill five days a week, at least when Congress is in session. I took advantage twice. One session was “The New Energy Economy” which dealt primarily with efficiency and demonstrated that increased efficiency is the low-hanging fruit that can reduce our generation needs by 30-50%. One of the striking graphs showed how refrigerator energy consumption was been reduced by 80% by the imposition of standards. Unfortunately, only refrigerators have energy standards, not TVs, microwaves, dishwashers, etc.
The other free lunch dealt with the advances in climate forecasting. In the past three years, computational advances have allowed higher resolution in forecasting, down to 3 km resolution. The panelists gave specific examples of forecasting April snow depth for the Rocky Mountains. Not only is this useful for the ski industry, but allows water-drought predictions for the following year. I also picked up a new work, hind-casting, which is using historic data to test a forecasting model. In other contexts, this has been called the training data set or test set. Hind-casting, so Inside the Beltway.
Diagonal Streets. Many cities have a few diagonal streets that break up the grid so common to Midwestern cities. Chicago has Milwaukee Av; Minneapolis, has Hiawatha. DC has all the state streets. L’Enfant intended these to be more than just decorative. In combination with the regular traffic circles that eventually became the homes of bronze generals and their retinue of pigeons, these streets were designed to help defend the Capitol. He envisioned artillery batteries stationed at each circle defending the city against an attacking army. I don’t know if his vision went as far as to see how all those little triangles of land that were too small to build on could become vest-pocket parks, but I am pleased that so many have become small green spots with trees, grass, benches, and the occasional bronze generals. During my walks from the State Dept to AAAS I came across several Latin-American generals, Simon Bolivar, Bernardo de Galvez, Jose de San Martin, for instance. Perhaps the nearby headquarters of the Organization of American States can explain this concentration of Hispanic generals.
Gardens. Near my office are several gardens that can serve as lunch spots—the US Botanic Gardens Conservatory and the outside gardens and one I just discovered—the Bartholdi Park (http://www.usbg.gov/gardens/barthodli-park.cfm). The centerpiece fountain is being restored, but the rest of the park is open and even features tables with umbrellas.
There is a sunken sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Gallery (http://hirshhorn.si.edu/) that is a real oasis. When the madding rush hour traffic is honking, breaking, and polluting just a few hundred feet away on Independence Av, all one can hear here is the chirping of birds and riffle of leaves.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Inside the Beltway
Off the Record
The rules for this two-week orientation are that everything the speakers say is “off the record.” In my previous job the speaker would say, “Put down your pens; take no notes on this.” However, not here, so I didn’t. Many rules change when you move inside the beltway. I just can’t wait until I am told that “this is on deep background.”
One of the speakers, not a politico, spoke of having to work with the undead. The speaker is a civil servant who saw much of their work life through the prism of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another off the record talk detailed how to tunnel through the natural barriers between the departments and agencies. This appears to have many of the attributes of electron tunneling in atomic physics. For one thing, it is a quantum effect, thus generally not obvious to those who live in the so-called real world of Newtonian rules. Also, in the quantum world, Schrödinger and his friends referred to the tunneling effect as an evanescent effect. This is not unlike life inside the Beltway where such events are energized by affinities between individuals; say, one in an executive office and the other on a Congressional staff, and where the quantum effect lasts only as long as the two people remain in place. Inside the Beltway individuals don’t stay in their orbital long, hopping from job to job like neutrons in an atomic reactor.
In general, one can consider an atomic nucleus a metaphor for the space inside the Beltway, rules become quantum, difficult to see clearly, and mostly inferrable only by their effects, not by the initiating interactions themselves. It has occurred to me that one outcome of building the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), that huge atomic accelerator under Switzerland that is still on the blink, is that the world may finally see how such quantum events take place; thus, it’s failure to get going may be sabotage from the bureaucrats of the world. I hope this is Dan Brown's next book.
The rules for this two-week orientation are that everything the speakers say is “off the record.” In my previous job the speaker would say, “Put down your pens; take no notes on this.” However, not here, so I didn’t. Many rules change when you move inside the beltway. I just can’t wait until I am told that “this is on deep background.”
One of the speakers, not a politico, spoke of having to work with the undead. The speaker is a civil servant who saw much of their work life through the prism of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another off the record talk detailed how to tunnel through the natural barriers between the departments and agencies. This appears to have many of the attributes of electron tunneling in atomic physics. For one thing, it is a quantum effect, thus generally not obvious to those who live in the so-called real world of Newtonian rules. Also, in the quantum world, Schrödinger and his friends referred to the tunneling effect as an evanescent effect. This is not unlike life inside the Beltway where such events are energized by affinities between individuals; say, one in an executive office and the other on a Congressional staff, and where the quantum effect lasts only as long as the two people remain in place. Inside the Beltway individuals don’t stay in their orbital long, hopping from job to job like neutrons in an atomic reactor.
In general, one can consider an atomic nucleus a metaphor for the space inside the Beltway, rules become quantum, difficult to see clearly, and mostly inferrable only by their effects, not by the initiating interactions themselves. It has occurred to me that one outcome of building the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), that huge atomic accelerator under Switzerland that is still on the blink, is that the world may finally see how such quantum events take place; thus, it’s failure to get going may be sabotage from the bureaucrats of the world. I hope this is Dan Brown's next book.
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