Intro: You've seen this line a hundred million times, snaking its way along the roof line of your math class. Long, detailed fractions occassionaly interspersed with some positions for prime numbers. Enchanting color coordinated paper strips to complement the room's theme: MATHS (as some of the world calls it) Background: Having asked the following question many times and not receiving a sufficiently simple answer, I always wondered why teachers were so defensive when asked, "Since we are allowed to ask how parts of something are there in another something (allowed to divide any number by any other number) , "Why can't we divide any number by ZERO?" "Just because you can't - it's undefined!" was the retort. What did I know, I was a just an inquiriing student asking a question..... Let's digress for a minute. The concept of nothingness, emptiness, invisibility has been looked at by cultures in very different ways. If you can't see something it was relegated to the domain of the gods many years ago. Bacteria, electrons, magnetic fields, TV signals, practically the entire electromagnetic spectrum was invisible and unknown for most of human history. The very idea of having a symbol to represent NOTHINGNESS was tinkering with the realms of mystery and religion. Yet, as the world of maths evolved and we bumped into the need for a place marker to satisfy our position number system, voila the ZERO appeared. It was a brilliant solution. No longer was a Nine only a Nine. If it was to the left of a zero, it was Nine units of ten, and no units of ones, resulting in 90. We leapt from hash marks on endless streams of paper, crossing every fourth mark to make an easy counting by fives, it was obvious looking at an abacus that something was needed to represent a positional nothing. Slowly, this symbol, not really a number, began to have equality to a number. We recited and placed it in the lowest integer position. We were taught that any number multiplied by zero equaled zero. (At least they didn't teach us that it was undefined) I just wish they had insisted in our learning that multiplying by zero is a fantastic journey of imagination, stating the process a little differently: 3 times 2 would be stated "What is the total of 2 sets of 3?" Then when asked, 3 times 0 would turn out to be "What is the total of ZERO sets of 3? -- No need to make a didactic rule stating that all numbers multiplied by zero would be zero, the question doesn't even deserve an answer. Freeing Zero from its Numerical Prison! So the next time you hear that you can't divide by ZERO, your answer may be, "Of course you can't, Zero is not a number!" I realize that this single change in the United States political system is a fantasy, a 'mind game' as one scientist called them. However, perhaps there may be a chord that can be struck for further analysis, resonating later in another idea. So, here goes. Background: It seems that to go forward with ideas and applying ones energy to beliefs is a continuous tone of political candidates. These promised changes would rectify given situations and give feedback to the voters that 'they' have indeed made a difference by voting for such a wonderful candidate. Yet during their elected term, there is a clock ticking: "Re-election, Re-election, Re-election", subliminally at first and then with ferocity. The candidates promises were harder to keep than expected. Voter perception becomes a large elephant in the room, tilting the floor of decisions in ways that the elected official hopes will prove beneficial at next election time. Favors to return, lobbying pressures under which concession is often necessary for reelection, political blackmail from angry focus groups, personal laundry drying on the media racks. Stumping from the heart during election time, mimicking teleprompters from another's speech in office. Sounds like a white collar prison. So much energy looking backward and sideways, the elected official has made the error of choosing a 'career' instead of a service to their constituents. If making the correct, yet politically unfavorable, decision was possible from the incumbents's views, it is rarely spoken about again once elected. Let's face it, they live in a catch 22 situation. Rule Suggestion Change: Every elected official is only allowed one term for that position, under any circumstance. City, County, State, Nation. That's it! Perhaps the length of terms might need adjustment for the duties required, but only one term. Reflection: • Could this actually assist those persons who truly wish to add their acumen into public service? * How much money would I spend to get elected on a one term position since I am prevented from making a career in politics? • What if public, elected positions were publicly funded? • There would be NO pressure to concede to lobbying efforts that try to dissuade the official from the voter's wishes. * We could have a negative effect where those elected take as much payola as possible since they can't be reelected. • How would we amend the odorous 2 party system so that there would be a larger option of candidates from which to choose? * Candidate credential testing would aid in supporting those who chose to enter public service and eliminating those who have not properly prepared. * And..... It occurred to me the other day that something is missing in our election process: a standard of fitness! Not the kind that makes one's heart race and muscles ache, but the kind of fitness that says that the candidate is qualified for the job. Then when one votes for a certain candidate we have at least an assurance that they have passed the 'qualification exam'. Think of it this way. When I visit a physician for checkup and prognosis I have in the back of my mind that they have spent many years in medical school, have interned for practicality and experience, and have passed an exam whose appropriate standards have been established for that profession. Image the next time you cross a bridge in your car, or use an elevator. Did you even wonder about the certifications of the individuals who designed the beams, supports, steel cabling, duty cycles, safety measures, and determined the maintenance schedules? Professions have exams to determine the fitness of an individual for duty in that profession. It is true that having passed an exam does not guarantee great fitness for the profession; however it does reassure one that the individual has obtained enough knowledge and understanding to begin a career in that field of endeavor. Lawyers, governors, attorney's general, ambassadors, senators, economic backgrounds, family political history, military academies: presidents have one thing in common - they were elected WITHOUT a "presidential fitness exam". There are 18 Departments currently in the United States government: State, Treasury, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security. Any ONE of these departments could be a lifetime of challenge to effectively manage much less to coordinate within the current context of a changing world. It is overwhelming to think that today we continue to elect officials who may not have the emotional, intellectual, or experiential capacity to handle one of the most demanding, multi-tasking professions in the world. Presidents seem to be elected on their current ability to orate their beliefs, have access to massive amounts of campaign capital, amass the correct quality of inidividuals around them to become president, and the persistent desire to be 'the president'. Whatever campaign promises are made are insignificant to the reality that will occur when the election has been determined. Somehow the "President's Exam" has been overlooked. This exam would naturally include years of public service, overseeing of budgetary issues, hours at the 'Presidential Sim' software that would challenge the player into extremely difficult scenarios, including life and death decisions involving military and clandestine activities. (PS No airplane pilot can fly a plane today without hours in the flight simulator--and I'm glad for that!) Tough situational analysis questions involved in each department would be present for us, the voters, to see how the presidential aspirant answered them. We, the voters, could hear the speeches about thus and such but we could also study the depth of situational awareness in their testing situations. So before the baby kissing, back slapping, and promising anything to get elected begins, we would have some assurance that they have already met the reality of the job and have chosen to continue on to completion of their dream of service. The voters would be empowered to look behind the glamorous multi media campaign to determine the actual depth of an otherwise unheard of person. Let's begin the Presidential certification process! Let's do some Math: Prices shown at the left are in Euros per Liter in Dusseldorf, Germany, August 18, 2013 To convert this number to USDollars per gallon we do the following 155.9 Euros/liter X 3.78 Liters/Gallon X 1.32 USDollars/Euro= $7.79 / Gallon The following quote puts PER GALLON costs in another perspective. And although the date of the publication was for 2012, I think you'll get the hint that other things cost way more per gallon than gasoline.
Source of this Article-Click Here "Think a gallon of gas is expensive? But did you know gas compared to other liquids is still cheaper, gallon-to-gallon? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective. Name Brand Bleach - $2.56 a gallon Soda - $3.84 a gallon Diet Snapple ($1.29 for 16 oz.) - $10.32 per gallon Starbucks Coffee - $7.00 per gallon Lipton Iced Tea ($1.19 for 16 oz.) - $9.52 per gallon Gatorade ($1.59 for 20 oz.) - $10.17 per gallon Ocean Spray ($1.25 for 16 oz.) - $10.00 per gallon Brake Fluid ($3.15 for 12 oz.) - $33.60 per gallon Vick's Nyquil ($8.35 for 6 oz.) - $178.13 per gallon Pepto Bismol ($3.85 for 4 oz.) - $123.20 per gallon Whiteout ($1.39 for 7 oz.) - $25.42 per gallon Scope ($0.99 for 1.5 oz.) - $84.48 per gallon Name Brand Cough Syrup - $128 per gallon Champagne - $755 dollars a gallon Nail Polish - $1,024 dollars a gallon. And this is the REAL KICKER... Evian water ($1.49 for 9 oz.) - $21.19 per gallon for WATER So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, or Pepto Bismol or Nyquil. One could argue that gasoline isn't used in the same way that other liquid products are. For example we don't use 15 gallons of honey in one week. Where as gasoline is a sort of a requirement, you have to have it, if you're going to get from point A to point B, but we do have other choices when some of our favorite products go up. The average American worker spends $1,100 annually on coffee. In 2011, the average household spent $4,155 on gasoline. That's an all-time high, as was the year's average price for a gallon of regular continues to climb." As a very robust gentleman backed his car out of this parking place, I wondered just what language he understands! When you try to see in the dark the human is at a disadvantage. Our rods that are used for reduced light in our retina are around the circumference and not in the center area. We are better set up for daylight and color viewing. However, you can see better in low level lighting by moving your head slowly back and forth. This allows the limited available light to be processed more effectively through the rods. Try it out, it works!
When the blind describes the elephant, only a small insight is revealed.. We are each but a pixel in the bigger understanding. |
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