For FEDS overspending borrowed money! Solution Ideas:

This post was made by Still Not Enough on "The Hill"

Department of Agriculture:

* Eliminate Food Stamps and all other welfare payments. In the 21st century, there is no excuse for a parent not earning enough money to pay for his child's food. If the parent refuses, the state takes custody. Either way, it's not a Federal responsibility.

Savings: $91 billion.

* Eliminate crop subsidies.

Savings: $8 billion.

* Eliminate subsidies to rural broadband initiatives and other "development" assistance. Pay for your Internet yourself, or do without.

Savings: $3 billion.

* Eliminate marketing operations. I see no reason for the Feds to spend money promoting American rice in Korea . Let American rice growers pay for such advertising, if they think it's worth it.

Savings: $1.3 billion

* Halve the R&D budget. There is very little need for Federal support of research into food and animal husbandry. Let Perdue pay for his own research into making a more tender chicken — since they'll reap the profits thereby.

Savings: $1.4 billion.

Department of Education:

* Eliminate K-12 grants to states. This is a state responsibility.

Savings: $50 billion.

* Eliminate ARRA ("stimulus") spending.

Savings: $20 billion.

We'll leave Pell Grants alone but redirect them to be merit-based, and we'll leave student loans alone on the grounds that they are usually repaid eventually.

Department of HHS:

* Adjust qualifications for Medicaid so as to halve outlays. Once again, in the 21st century there is no excuse for an ordinary non-disabled average-intelligence adult not to be able to earn enough money to pay for his own health care, and if he refuses, let him ask for charity from his neighbors, or do without. But leave in the remaining 50% of spending so we don't cut off the truly desperate cases — the mentally handicapped, paralyzed, or terminally ill.

Savings: $130 billion.

Department of Homeland Security:

* Eliminate the TSA. There is no rational reason for this agency to exist. The FBI, local law enforcement, and Federal marshals all have jurisdiction enough to handle terrorism. Airline safety should be up to airlines, who can hire private contractors as they see fit. We don't expect the Feds to guarantee our safety on a railroad or in a cab, so there's no reason to expect it in an airliner.

Savings: $5.7 billion.

* Eliminate FEMA. Public safety in a disaster is a local and state responsibility, or the Coast Guard if it happens offshore, and the government should not be trying to guarantee the incomes of people suffering disaster, i.e. it shouldn't be in the disaster insurance business. That's what insurance companies are for.

Savings: $7.3 billion.

Department of HUD:

* Eliminate all housing assistance. See above: if you're an able-bodied adult in the 21st century, you pay your own rent or you live in a cardboard box, and if there is to be charity, it's a state and local responsibility. There's no reason Montana taxpayers should help pay the rent of a New Orleans crack addict who can't hold down a job.

Savings: $38 billion.

Department of Justice:

* Eliminate the BATF and DEA. No war on drugs or on the Second Amendment.

Savings: $3.3 billion.

Department of Labor:

* Eliminate all job-training grants and unemployment insurance. Not the Feds responsibility.

Savings: $93 billion.

Department of State:

* Eliminate international drug war funding.

Savings: $2.1 billion

* Reduce foreign aid by 50%, except that directed to public health and children (e.g. malaria, AIDS).

Savings: $10 billion.

Department of Transportation:

* Eliminate all ARRA ("stimulus") boondoggles, high-speed rail, et cetera.

Savings: $17 billion.

Department of the Treasury:

* Eliminate more TARP spending.

Savings: $11 billion.

EPA:

* Eliminate ARRA boondoggles:

Savings: $2 billion

Eliminate AmeriCorps

Savings: $1.4 billion

———————

Grand total savings: $514 billion, which reduces the deficit by 40%. And notice defense, veteran's services, Medicare, Social Security, the FAA, NASA, NOAA, college financial aid remain untouched.

Minds, Brains and Electrodes, OH MY!

In her study of speech pathology, Megan introduced me to "The Audeo Interface and ECoG Brain Interface, exciting and short articles about reading electrical activity from the brain, especially addressing the question of detecting speech. Fascinating!"

In the endeavor to conduct only research projects which are ethically sound, let us examine more closely the implications of cutting the edges of brains during bold computer experiments. We have to consider not only the process of ECoG itself, but also the possible states of affairs in the event these “mind-reading” chips are thoroughly accurate and widely distributed. It is of utmost importance we do not follow reductive physicalists and mistakenly reduce minds to brains. This metaphysical stance—all mental states are nothing more than brain states—encounters serious problems in an effort to account for free action and therefore, responsibility, obligation, praise, blame, and other significant ethical issues. Strictly speaking, these devices read brain activity. The question at hand is this: Does knowing what's going on in the patient's brain allow human operators to know what's going on in the mind of the patient? A thorough investigation of this fledgling technology will direct us toward its benefits while making known its dangers, thus improving our purposes for developing it.

Given how intrussive ECoG is, why pursue it? People with impaired speech may have a lot to gain from the development of technologies such as ECoG and Audeo Interface. For those who previously had been unable to convey their thoughts, the capacity to communicate comes as a miraculous gift, unlocking new avenues of expression, community involvement, and intimate relationships.

Both the ECoG and the Audeo Interface are measurement tools. They are positioned to detect what the brain and nervous system transmit. In the event we learn both sides of human electric-phoneme coding, we must address the more difficult question of sending artificial electrical transmissions to the brain. If we can measure neuroelectricity, can we also broadcast it? In addition to the speech-impaired, the deaf may also benefit from this. Even though vibrations via the cochlea do not cause a corresponding electrical brain state necessary for the perception of speech sounds, we may nonetheless artificially stimulate those same brain states using ECoG.

Is speech reduced to electric currents? How are my reading “Kurt Vonnegut” and hearing [kɝt vɒnəgət] synthesized in my brain to refer to the same person? Even though a brain state is necessary to understand speech, we do not yet know if it is sufficient.

Given how recent ECoG is, what are some important precautions to take? The surgeons and their hospitals performing ECoG ought to fulfill the following requirements prior to incision. First, full procedural disclosure must be given to the consenting patient. Second, the hospital must provide documented proof that identical (or nearly identical) procedures have been successful and that this particular procedure has a very good chance of also ending successfully. Third, they must provide documented proof that patients who have undergone this surgery are not therefore more susceptible to any unwanted complications regarding mental processing, pain, awareness, memory, etc.

Additional sources:
NPR

So starts the second half

I hope this note finds you in the best of health and appreciation for cheesy musicals
Yesterday, the students in the school where I teach (CECOM) returned from their summer vacation to a bright, newly decorated classroom. For the next six weeks my role will shift from teacher to classroom supervisor and teacher's aid. Instead, a Honduran woman, Fannie, will be conducting class lectures in order to fulfill her teacher training practicum and I will give feedback and support. This is great news for the students (1st & 4th graders) b/c Fannie actually has half a clue what she's doing! The class is already way more organized and well structured. I'm looking forward to picking up a lot of great techniques and practices from her.

Since I am not as occupied with lesson planning, I've decided to volunteer English classes at a church every Sunday. If any of you are familiar with vacation bible school (VBS) it's along those lines. In exchange I get to practice their drum kit and pick up some piano lessons (double kA-cHiNg!1!1!). These peeps are way into Jesus and love to dance and shout while they sing worship, it's actually an amazing and impressive physical workout. All of the teachers are women except for one dad, who's co-teaching with his wife. I met the pastor through my neighbor, Doña Isabela. She loves feeding me great Honduran staples such as carne endiablada (deviled meat...while it boils the grand-kids and I eat it raw with squirts of lemon!); sopa mondongo (AWESOME soup with rumen and reticulum tripe and potatoes); baleadas (tortillas with refried beans and hot, creamy buttermilk), and other exciting mouthfuls.

Dad, Mom, Megan and I gallivanted through the country for 10 days soaking up each other's company and absolutely loving it. One day while around the largest lake in Honduras, we asked a local guide to lead us under and behind a 140 foot waterfall called Pulhapanzak. There were leaps of faith, pounding, blinding and deafening segments where our only impression of security held on to either hand. We'd see local boys hopping from muddy rock to muddy rock until they flung themselves from their launch patch 40 feet above the river. And the rainbows!!!!!!!!! They were mistbows!!!!!!!!!!