The Babbage Difference Engine

Beauty in the machine!  The first computer ever designed (mechanical), in 1849…wish Babbage coulda lived to see it…

Remember, the world will end tomorrow.

* The USA owns more guns/person than any other country.  More than the most armed and voilent war-torn country in the world.  30,000 Americans die each year by guns.

* 1996 Australia banned automatic rifles, and did a buy-back of over 650,000 guns and added tighter licensing and storage rules for gun owners.  18 years before the new law there were 13 mass shootings.  After the law 0 mass shootings, murder rate with firearms has dropped 40%, and suicide rate with firearms has dropped by 50%.

* The benchmarks in other countries are very clear and compelling.  Strong gun laws will not eliminate 100% of the violence, but it will reduce it significantly.  This has been proven.  Period.

* In the US, states with stricter gun control laws have fewer homicides and suicides by gun. 

* Guns kill 30,000 Americans per year.  Thirty thousand EVERY year.  We can drop this number significantly.  Are you up for trying to save 20,000 of these Americans?

* We have tightly regulated the auto industry - seatbelts, safety features, tests, licensing, etc. - and reduced the auto fatality rate by 90% since the 1950s.  We have a tightly regulated ladder industry for safety.  We have a tightly regulated housing industry for safety.  The gun industry’s product kills 30,000 Americans every year.

* We found a single shoe-bomber and for the last 10 years every air traveler has had to remove their shoes to enter an airport.  Yet mass shootings happen every year and no change in gun regulations.

* When the 2nd amendment was passed most Americans did not have a gun.  They were stored in Armories for the local militias.  That is why the 2nd amendment is worded as it is, for a “well-regulated militia”.  It was not until the War Between The States, that gun ownership ballooned in the US, when we armed most of the male population.

* We do not allow people to own TNT or a nuclear device or mortars.  These are all weapons.  We have always drawn a line as to what weapons people could own.  It is time to recognize that an AR15 or a 15 shot semi-auto Glock is as harmful as a mortar round or an IED.

* I believe we need to outlaw any gun that fires more than a single round at a time.  I believe we need to outlaw handguns.  I believe anyone who wants to buy a single-shot gun needs to have a 30 day waiting period, a test of weapon safety, a permit, a reference (like Canada) and the gun needs to have a tracking/ID feature, no exceptions as there are for gun shows today.  Allowing single shot guns would enable hunters to still pursue their choice, it would still allow, like I did, to learn to shoot as a teenager.

* Will this stop all the crazy people?  No.  Will some criminals be able to find a gun?  Yes.  But it will turn 30,000 deaths of Americans every year into something MUCH, MUCH less.  Let’s save 20,000 lives/year.  Or more.

* We also need to do more for mental illness.  We also need to do more to make our culture one of peace and not of war and violence.  But we also need to responsibly regulate a product that kills 30,000 Americans/year.

Will our politicians have the courage to solve this problem?  30,000 Americans/year.

I was surprised to learn Belgian beer Stella Artois is owned by American brewer Anheuser-Busch.  Then I was surprised to learn that Anheuser-Busch is owned by Belgian brewer InBev!  Then I learned Canadian beer Molson is owned by American brewer Miller.  Then I was surprised to learn that Miller is owned by British brewer SAB.  OK, so what is the largest beer brand that is actually still American?  Yueng-Ling, a beer that I’ve only come across in Pennsylvania and Texas….

But don’t worry, North America still leads the world in beer consumption!  And me?  I’m sticking with my favorite brewers Lagunitas Brewing Company…

JERMAINE!

Yes, THAT Jermaine.  Boris The Animal (er, just Boris) in Men in Black 3 was played by OUR JERMAINE.  Nice, quiet, sensitive, subtle, guitar-strumming Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tear up again when I hear ‘The Most Beautiful Girl (in the room)’ or make looooooooooove while listening to ‘It’s Business Time’….sigh, who in Hollywood allowed this to happen?  Noooooooo not Boris The Animal!  Say it ain’t so Jermaine.

Growing up out in the country and its black nighttime darkness, I used to dream walking down neon-lit streets in the big city. When my dad would take us up to Philly to visit grandma, I would be immersed in neon heaven. Deep down I think I chose to attend Boston University just so that I could live right under the CITGO sign in Kenmore Square (which is exactly what I did).  I still love taking a look around the country at all the neon and thanks to the intertubes, I don’t have to wait for my pops to take me….

Princess Leia sure got around…

Did you know that half the contributions to Super PACs in this election were over $1,000,000 each? Seriously, big money in electing our leaders has gotten out of hand, we’ve got to do something. And we can:

Today we just introduced new legislation today called the American Anti-Corruption Act! It was written by both the left *and* the right, FEC chairs and constitutional scholars.

Take a look at what the American Anti-Corruption Act does, and, if interested, please ADD YOUR NAME as a citizen co-sponsor!

Join in and let’s end the corruption and bribery that our political processes have become.

I found a great blog called Ranking America that tracks the different reliable reports which rank the United States in comparison to other countries in various categories.  It’s like crack to a data junkie…

Gotta work on these:

* USA ranks 2nd in child poverty (out of top 35 industrialized nations)

* USA ranks 1st in prisoners (out of 218 countries)

* USA ranks 14th in teenage suicide (out of 194 OECD countries)

* USA ranks 2nd in out of pocket health expenses (out of 194 OECD countries)

* USA ranks 36th in public debt (out of 194 countries)

* USA ranks 121st (!) in government spending (% of GDP)

* USA ranks 10th in economic freedom (out of 194 countries)

* USA ranks 23rd in student science scores (out of 65 countries)

* USA ranks 46th in civil liberties (the lowest score of any democratic country)

* USA ranks 27th in food security (% of people with enough $ to buy food)

* USA ranks 17th in democracy (out of 167 countries, Norway was 1st)

* USA ranks 20th in press freedom (out of 178 countries)

* USA ranks 54th in education expenditures (out of 182, tied with Jamaica at 5.3% of GDP)

* USA ranks 15th in college graduation rates (out of top 30 industrialized)

* USA ranks 49th in life expectancy at birth (out of 224 countries)

* USA ranks 20th in childhood obesity rates (out of 98 countries)

* USA ranks 114th in industrial production growth (out of 226 countries)

* USA ranks 43rd in income in equality (out of 124 countries)

* USA ranks 9th in bribery (out of top 22 industrialized nations)

We’re #1 (!) in:

* Prisoners

* GDP (Out of 194 countries)

* Cheese production (We produced 25.5% of the world’s cheese)

* Cocoa Bean usage (We used 19% of the world’s cocoa beans)

* Natural gas consumption

* Oil consumption

* Oil refinery capacity

* Hops production (We produced 31.4% of the world’s hops, but 2nd in beer consumption)

* Nuclear Reactors operating (We have 23.5% of the world’s nukes)

* Apple Juice production

* Airports (We have 34% of the world’s airports)

* Roadways (more than China, which is 2nd)

* Recycled paper recovery (woohoo!)

* Pigeon imports (are you kidding me?)

* Freedom to travel abroad

* Asparagus imports

* Railways (by far)

* New businesses (out of 161 countries, 16.3% of world’s new businesses)

* String Bean production

* Primate imports

Just fascinating:

* 17th in labor costs (out of 34 industrialized nations)

* 136th in goat consumption