Everyone Has An Ideology.

I am not a "pragmatist," but sometimes I feel that my ideology is not coherent. RT @NYTimeskrugman: Everyone Has An Ideology http://nyti.ms/eYPAHy

"[E]veryone has (a) values and (b) some view about how the world works. And there’s nothing wrong with that."

The above is what the title of his essay means. I suppose that everybody accepts the plausibility of that perspective. Krugman does not hide his "ideology" in his writing, and I like reading his analysis based on data. He is a great teacher who can make us notice the importance of economics and logical or hypothetical thinking.

"A Fair Witness is an individual trained to observe events and report exactly what he or she sees and hears, making no extrapolations or assumptions." http://bit.ly/hRjjJJ

This is a very interesting profession in "Stranger in a Strange Land."

"not because of but despite . . ."

"The names of Bolshevik figures must be erased from our country's map. Portraying Stalin as the winner of the war is a flagrant lie. Our people won the war, not because of but despite Stalin's repressions."(Leonid Gozman)

I don't know if what Leonid Gozman says is right, but the analytical logic behind the expression "not because of but despite" might apply in some cases.

Is the message going to be written in English?

I wonder if the skull and crossbones sign will convey the same clear message in 100,000 years.
INTO ETERNITY "THIS HIDING PLACE SHOULD NEVER BE DISTRUBED" http://bit.ly/cn6VQ5

"It is an open question if and how we can communicate with an unknown and very distant future about complicated issues like nuclear waste and radiation." http://bit.ly/eFjsI8

English as a universal language

"There are about 400 million people whose native tongue is English. But English is also the official language of countries such as India and Singapore, and when you factor in the peoples of such countries, plus those who speak English as a foreign language, the total number of English speakers by far exceeds 1 billion around the world. "(Torikai Kumiko) http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201101210361.html http://bit.ly/gZSDIH

If English is becoming a universal language for all the peoples of the world, it might be inevitable that the English language will fall into decline. If we want to keep the language's integrity, "we" ought to protect "at least" the " 'core' English grammar and pronunciation."

Freakonomics or the existence of cheating among sumo wrestlers

The following is a tweet from The Daily Yomiuri:
"Text messages implying match-fixing were found on #sumo wrestlers' cell phones seized by Tokyo police in July, sources reveal. #Japan"

There was a baseball-betting scandal among sumo wrestlers last year.
"The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)'s organized crime division arrested three former sumo wrestlers and a woman on Jan. 26 on suspicion of involvement in a baseball-betting scandal that shook the sumo world to its foundations last year." http://bit.ly/euBhPz

In the process of the investigation, evidence was found that shows there had been cheating or match-fixing among sumo wrestlers.

In 2005, "Freakonomics" demonstrated the existence of cheating among sumo wrestlers, relying on a statistical analysis. Freakonomics does not use ordinary economic theories. It is a statistical analysis of social problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakonomics

Stephen Krashen's article

Applying the Comprehension Hypothesis: Some Suggestions Stephen Krashen http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/eta_paper/index.html http://bit.ly/iakY8a

Krashen's article is very interesting. He treats testable hypotheses, and his conclusions are based on data. If there are any drawbacks in his theories, they might be related to the fact that he is mainly concerned with language education for students in classrooms. What do you think of this?

About the appearance of generational inequalities in Japan

"While many nations have aging populations, Japan’s demographic crisis is truly dire, with forecasts showing that 40 percent of the population will be 65 and over by 2055. Some of the consequences have been long foreseen, like deflation: as more Japanese retire and live off their savings, they spend less, further depressing Japan’s anemic levels of domestic consumption. But a less anticipated outcome has been the appearance of generational inequalities." In Japan, Young Face Generational Roadblocks http://nyti.ms/fMiXGj

It might be true that one aspect of generational inequalities in Japan may be the result of its aging population. Some old people have both more power and more money than other old people. It is a well known fact that more conspicuous inequalities exist among old people than among young people.

"As this fading economic superpower rapidly grays, it desperately needs to increase productivity and unleash the entrepreneurial energies of its shrinking number of younger people. But Japan seems to be doing just the opposite." In Japan, Young Face Generational Roadblocks http://nyti.ms/fMiXGj

Some people think that productivity can be increased and entrepreneurial energies can be unleashed under fierce competition or unstable fixed-term employment. Most of the "powerless" old people, who have been paying their children's educational costs, are not responsible for the introduction of the "inhumane" and "unjust" system that young people are currently dealing with.

I think that Martin Fackler cannot see both the true state of affairs and the root cause of "generational inequality."

The number of gun owners and the crime rate

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) contends that "[I]n cities where more people own guns, the crime rate. . . goes down." http://huff.to/dJe67b

"If lenient gun laws actually reduce gun violence as the NRA claims, the U.S. should have the lowest rate of gun violence. However, a look at the numbers from other industrialized countries does not show this to be the case." International Gun Laws Show Firearm Availability is Related to Deaths http://bit.ly/i4ZVRd

Do you think that there is a (negative) correlation between the number of gun owners and the crime rate?
Do you think that there is a direct causal relationship between them?

If the percentage of gun owners--including guns for hunting--in rural areas is higher than in urban areas, and if the crime rate in rural areas is less than that in urban areas, then without any causal relationship between gun ownership and the crime rate, you can infer that there should be a negative correlation between the percentage of gun owners and the crime rate. But it does not necessarily mean that the guns reduce the crime rate. What do you think of this reasoning?

Why did Keith Olbermann have to sign off?

Keith Olbermann signs off. http://on.msnbc.com/gXQFSN

I found that some people classified him in the same group that Glenn Beck belongs to. But he not only takes a different position on several matters from Glenn Beck, his style of speech is also more restrained and logical than his "counterpart." I wonder if my impression is not shared by most of the people in the USA.

"One week, the Right's theme is 'Obamacare’s death panels'; another week, it’s the 'Ground Zero Mosque'." What the Hell Happened to Keith Olbermann?: MSNBC's parent company, General Electric, never seemed comfortable with some of Olbermann's material. http://bit.ly/eHycQy

“Unlike News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who stands solidly behind the right-wing propaganda on Fox News, the corporate owners of MSNBC have no similar commitment to the work of Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz." Robert Parry http://bit.ly/eHycQy

A hypothetical situation

You were born six years ago. You are always in a room. But there is no one in the room, and nobody speaks to you. Someone, without speaking, feeds you if you begin to cry. There is a big screen on the wall, and you always listen to the sound of the prerecorded videos shown on the screen.

Do you think that you can speak a language?