What's this blog really about?

August is when school starts again for me, and the end of July seems like a reasonable time to reflect on the status and goals of my blog.

As it turns out, I have been making a lot of posts about politics recently, but that is not my MAIN intent with this blog.  My intent is to post as an observer -- of life and culture and things that interest me.

Academic Literature Visualizations

Here's an interesting resource for people who are actually interested in what the science shows about a given topic.

Open Knowledge Maps is an academic literature search engine, but it includes a visualization that categorizes the journal articles.  Click on one of the circles and it zooms in to show the specific articles.

Another nice thing is that it shows which articles are open access and therefore can be downloaded directly.

The example above (which I know is a little small to read), is a search on "Climate Change."

Because there are a lot of scholars out there who do NOT have access to research databases through university libraries, Open Knowledge Maps joins Google Scholar as a key way of exploring the academic literature to see what the peer reviewed scientific literature says.

Passing Trumpcare is NOT how high school Government taught it should be

The political machinations in Washington over Trumpcare are WAY outside the scope of how things are "supposed to work."

When I was in High School Government class, we learned a straightforward process by which a bill becomes a law. The process made sense and was a logical flow of thoughtful, informed decision-making:

Th first house does the best it can to create good legislation. Then they send it to the second house, which either agrees or makes amendments members there think will improve the legislation.  The two houses work out their differences and send the compromise to the president.  Sometimes the bill is rejected along the way.

When it comes to Trumpcare, the House Republicans didn't care about the provisions they voted on, because they knew it would be changed in the Senate.  Now it appears that the Senate Republicans are going to try to ramrod something through, so that they can figure out their final plan in the conference committee.  No significant hearings or public input in either house. They are voting on things that nobody has been allowed to read.

That's not how it's supposed to work!

Obamacare was something this country has never done before.  There were hundreds of special interest groups with their fingers in the pie.  It is not at all surprising that there are things that need change, now that we are down the road a ways. When you try something completely new, nobody expects it to be perfect the first time.  Success is often incomplete until it has been tinkered with and fine tuned several times.

I am open to changes that make sense to improve health care for vulnerable populations.  The best way to do that is to have everybody as "part of the pool."

I am not open to the mindset that says people are poor because they are lazy and do not deserve the support of society, which is what we are seeing among many Republicans right now.

(Image above from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/190066046749776126/)

Trump and the Boy Scouts

I don't blame the Boy Scouts for Donald Trump's flagrantly inappropriate comments at the national jamboree.  The president is always invited to speak and local hosts don't get to review the president's remarks in advance.

But what this shows, yet again, is that Trump cannot be counted on to make the right decision.

In this case, the decision was to inject politics into a venue where it very clearly does not belong.  To be fair, he ALWAYS injects politics into venues where it doesn't belong, and the reason is that he again and again makes bad judgment calls.  It is as if he lacks the critical thinking ability to evaluate the circumstances and determine what is proper and correct.

Some may say "he knows, but me doesn't care."  That may be, but he constantly distracts from his agenda and is his own worst enemy.  Things aren't getting done that would be, if he was not constantly oscillating out of control.

The thing that slays me is that if he can't make a sound decision about what to talk to boy scouts about, how can we trust him to make wise decisions about the critical issues facing the country and the world?

But again -- don't blame the Boy Scouts.

They complied with the long tradition of inviting the president to speak, as they would have regardless of who the president is.  It's Trump who blew the opportunity to show that he can be a statesman.

Actions = Ethics

Photo by Gage Skidmore
via Wikimedia.

As the Donald Trump Junior scandal unfolds, what he INTENDED to do is more important than what he ACTUALLY did.

He attended a meeting that he had been told specifically was part of a Russian effort to influence the election.

What does this say about his morality and values? A lot.

What most people don't understand about Social Media

We've seen several reports recently of popular social media sites that are struggling to be profitable, like Twitter and Tumblr.

Profit? Most social media users see their accounts as a free service.  What's going on?

Seven Rules to get Great Fireworks Photos

With Independence Day fireworks shows on the agenda, social media will be flooded by photographs of fireworks, and most will not be very good photos. Here are my tips for getting the best fireworks photos:

1. Use a tripod. Good fireworks shots will require a slow shutter speed and you can’t hand-hold the camera still enough. Make sure it is firmly on the bare ground and not wobbly.

2. Use a DSLR camera. Point-and-shoot and cell phone cameras are usually too automatic, and you will need to use some manual settings (see below).

3. Get there early and frame your shot. You need a location with a clear view in the direction of the fireworks with no power lines, utility poles, street lights, etc. Generally start with your lens zoomed as wide as it goes (after step 4 below). You may still need to adjust how your camera points when you see how high the fireworks go.

4. Focus manually. You can’t focus on the fireworks themselves, so focus on buildings, trees, etc, at the same distance as the fireworks will be. Zoom in all the way and use automatic focus, then switch to manual focus mode so the focus doesn’t change. After that, you can zoom in and out without the focus changing.

5. Use a low ISO. This is another manual setting. Many cameras adjust the ISO automatically, but you want to set the ISO manually as low as you can. ISO 100 or 200 is good.

6. Use a slow shutter speed. You may need to experiment some as the show progresses, but start with three seconds, which should give you nice filaments and detail. But because of this, make sure that your tripod is firmly planted, so that it doesn’t wobble when you press and release the shutter. If available, use a cable or wireless remote. Note: Many tutorials say to set your aperture manually, also. I use the shutter/speed priority mode, along with the manual ISO, which allows the aperture to adjust itself.

7. Get into a rhythm. Trip your shot as soon as you see the missile shooting skywards. If you wait until you see the firework explode in the sky, it will be too late.

Follow these seven rules, but also be flexible and prepared to tweak your settings slightly as the show progresses (particularly shutter speed and camera angle) and you will get some great fireworks shots.

Note: The photo above is my own.