Self-Driving Cars and More, the Georgia Election, Not Answering your Phone, Thoughts of LaoTzu and tRump Supporters Just Don't Care!

Arms -  Instruments of Evil

There is much wisdom in "The Way of Life" by Lao Tzu.  It is the basis of Taoism, one of the world's great religions. Here is a verse from his wisdom.  Lao Tzu is said to have been born in 604 B.C.  (This taken from the translation of Lao Tzu's 81 "sayings" by Witter Bynner.  This is number 31.)

                                                      Confucius Meeting With LaoTzu

Even the finest arms are an instrument of evil,

A spread of plague,

And the way for a vital man to go is not the way of a soldier.

But in time of war men civilized in peace

Turn from their higher to their lower nature.

Arms are an instrument of evil,

No measure for thoughtful men

Until there fail all other choice

But sad acceptance of it.

Triumph is not beautiful.

He who thinks triumph beautiful

Is one with a will to kill,

And one with a will to kill

Shall never prevail upon the world.

It is a good sign when man's higher nature comes forward,

A bad sign when his lower nature comes forward,

When retainers take charge

And the master stays back

As in the conduct of a funeral.

The death of a multitude is cause for mourning:

Conduct your triumph as a funeral.

JL

Self-Driving Cars, Smart Cars and Solutions

I read the other day that computer and mobile apps enabling people to order their groceries on line, and then have them delivered to their door, have not been as successful as their developers, including some supermarket chains, had hoped.   Other than in big cities, where people shop on foot rather than by car, thereby limiting the extent of their purchases, these apps have not been big hits.  The conclusion the article made was that, given a big supermarket with plenty of parking a short ride from one’s home, people actually enjoy the experience of shopping for food!  That’s why the online food shopping apps are usually not used by these people.

Which brings us to self-driving cars, in regard to which as I see it, the same problem exists.  Many people like to get behind the wheel and drive their cars.  Just look at the drivers in the carmakers’ TV commercials.  They’re smiling and certainly not ready to give up the pleasure they get from driving their vehicles.  Incidentally, when you apply for automobile insurance, one of the questions always asked is how much of your driving is for business, and how much is for pleasure.  Get that … “pleasure” … just like those folks enjoying (or at least not hating) shopping in a supermarket.

Of course, there are exceptions.  Driving in big city traffic or commuting to work on overcrowded highways is definitely not a pleasure.  But are self-driving vehicles the answer to that?  I don’t think so.  The next time you’re on the road in your car, notice the number of cars capable of holding four passengers but with just one, the driver.  If all those drivers are using their car for is to get to work, it should be replaced by a one or two seat “smart car,” like the ones popular in Europe.  

Traffic Jam

That would somewhat relieve highway overcrowding and work in the direction of making driving more pleasurable for everyone.

 

Even better would be using rapid transit, bus or rail, to commute to work, with smart cars being the vehicles of choice to get to and from the rapid transit locations.  And smart cars used for this purpose need not be privately owned, either.  They could be picked up and deposited in lots just as the rental bicycles now available in many downtown city areas are.  Right now companies (Uber is an example) are developing plans to do this kind of thing using self-driving cars for the limited trips to rapid transit.  

And the user can still keep a traditional car in their garage for more pleasurable kinds of driving, including trips to the supermarket.

My most recent driving experiences, in Manhattan and in downtown Miami, neither of which was a pleasurable experience, convinces me that congested city driving is perhaps the only place where self-driving cars would work.  Contrary to human drivers, the self-driving vehicles would always obey the law.  They won’t run red lights. They won’t double park illegally nor enter an intersection unless they can get all the way through it. And as in the commuter scenario discussed above, these vehicles could be provided by a rental service, with the driver of the traditional pleasure vehicle leaving his car at the edge of town, where the self-driving car, which would not be limited to smart cars in size, could be picked up.

But in areas with plenty of parking spaces and uncrowded roads, no one has any need for a self-driving car.

In big, crowded cities, however, look forward to this combination of accessible rapid transit, smart cars and self-driving vehicles. It's something which our society, in partnership with our technology, will be developing over the next twenty years or so.  We will, like it or not, have to change our ways.

Jack Lippman

tRumpers Just Don't Care

Democrats and others concerned with the erratic behavior, the unpredictability and the shallowness of the President should not be hopeful that these shortcomings will reduce his support.  Failure, at least thus far, to repeal Obamacare, to bring about a travel ban, to get Mexico to pay for a wall on the Rio Grande and to return outsourced jobs to America have not affected the passion of his supporters.  I don’t see the treaty with Iran being torn up yet either, but that doesn’t seem to bother them.  His becoming a fan of China and less of one of Russia, and getting into the kind of foreign involvement he campaigned against has not deterred them.  Neither has his inclusion in his administration of more Wall Street people, some of whom are Democrats, than even Hillary Clinton dreamed of appointing. And his practically abandoning the White House for Florida and its golf courses gets a pass too! 

Whatever “conservative” victories he has managed (Gorsuch, Sessions appointments) are greatly magnified in his supporters’ eyes.  Read all about this in a recent New York Times article by clicking here.

JL

Why You Should Answer Your Phone

In the event of a truly dire emergency, such as the outbreak of nuclear war, an approaching tidal wave of enormous proportions, a sudden category 4 or 5 hurricane or dangerous tornado bearing down on an area, wireless telephones will start ringing all over the place. 

And many people will not bother to take the call, and as a result, suffer consequences which may be fatal (as they caution in some of the drug commercials on TV).  

That’s because we have become used to ignoring unwanted phone calls from unknown numbers from all over the country.  Despite the government ‘do not call’ list, such calls continue to harass people, who have learned to tune them out.  As more and more people abandon “landline” phones (which usually don’t provide these warnings) for the mobile variety (which do), this danger of people ignoring a ringing phone and being unaware of impending disaster increases.  Legislation to stop unwanted calls is needed.  When your phone rings, there should be no reason for you to ignore it!

JL

Georgia's Nationwide Congressional Race

Although Jon Ossoff was the leading vote getter in the Georgia special election to fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Pryor, long-time foe of government involvement in health insurance (who was appointed to head the Department managing it), he didn't cross the 50% barrier which would have made a run-off unnecessary.  

The two top candidates, Ossoff and Karen Handel, will be in a run-off on June 20.   Rounding off the numbers, Ossoff received 48% of the votes, Handel received 20% and the other three Republicans received a total of 28%.  That shapes up as a dead-heat party-wise, promising a tight race in the run-off.  The 4% which were spread over thirteen other candidates, and those who didn't vote in the special election last week will decide who will be the Congressperson from Georgia's 6th Congressional District, covering several suburban counties north of Atlanta. 

Jon Ossoff and Karen Handel

Ossoff is a political novice and Handel has held many State positions.  But that won't matter.  The June election really will be a referendum on how well Donald tRump is doing in the eyes of Republicans, with national ramifications.  Remember that this district, once represented by Newt Gingrich, gave Mitt Romney a 23 point margin in 2012 but only gave tRump a 1 1/2 point edge over Hillary Clinton.  Handel didn't make an issue of supporting tRump in her campaign, although the President did chime in with several anti-Ossoff tweets.  
JL

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