An open letter to The Honorable Mark Kirk

 Please note, I left my dad's and own name out of this published version. I am to you, Servus.

To The Honorable Mark Kirk, Junior Senator for Illinois,

I write to you regarding the recent committee hearing’s topic of discussion, held on the 8th of March, 2012, concerning the United States’ workforce competitiveness’ relation to the United States’ competitiveness in education against other nations’.

Before I continue, allow me to introduce myself. My name is ---. I am American born and grew up in the Chicago area. My parents are Danish and moved to Chicago when my dad, ---, was invited to work at Argonne National Laboratory. I have since become an expatriate American and currently live in the North Atlantic region. I intend to return to Chicago once I have completed my education in Denmark. One of my goals in Chicago is to influence the paradigms of education in Illinois.

I would like to know, to what extent do you intend for the United States to develop its own paradigm and policy in education reform and to what extent do you intend to import ideas and policy from our competitors? To what extent will adult education be influenced and can you quantify the effect the reforms will have on the labor and job markets? What conclusions have you reached as a result of the hearing?

I would also like to take the opportunity to tell you about the state of education in Denmark and my experiences. Colleges in the United States hold Gymnasium degrees in high regard. I myself took a HF degree, which is the equivalent of a GED and was informed by several colleges and universities in the Midwest I could be awarded enough credits to graduate with an bachelor's degree in one or two years. But there is a down side to Denmark’s high level of education in the labor market. Many highly educated graduates are now having difficulty finding a job that fits their level of education. While there may be plenty of job training positions in offices granting degrees in Public Administration, Finances or Business Administration, competition among new gymnasium graduates is high. Even job training programs, lasting two to four years, for trades such as plumbing, auto repair or masonry work, is in short supply compared to the number of candidates who apply for these positions. Oddly enough, the reverse is true for academic, highly technical or design sectors, as many of these career paths are seen as unattainable due to difficulty, too menial despite or boring despite the high level of technical skill required, or uninteresting.

While I am tempted to suggest Illinois would benefit from importing models from Denmark, I cannot without reservation do so. The current crisis and occupy protests have highlighted the higher than expected unemployment rate among new graduates. To improve education across the board as a solution to America’s job market woes would ignore the factors which is reflected by the high number of unemployed graduates. It is curious as to what these factors are.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter to you. I look forward to your reply and value any correspondence you offer on the subject.

Best Regards, Peter Smedskjaer.

Parenting Gone Wrong - Boot Camps

Anyone who watches day time TV and talk shows such as Ricky Lake will know about the Boot Camp edition of behavioural adjustment in problem children. Drill sergents will yell at kids to do push up, pick up messes, dress in a uniform and do long hikes or hard runs. You will see a short time compressed version where there is a lot of yelling and tough love. A lot of people see these kids turn around and support the idea. When we hear about a death related to these boot camps, we think 'the drill instructor is at fault' and not 'this was a bad idea through and through'. Sometimes, people think they can do a better job and make sure their kids wont suffer the same fate. Well, not in Alabama.

Quick Three - Parenting

 I posted this in the wrong blog by mistake. I will post a continuation in connection to a new case.

Abuse is a pretty touchy subject. The line between doing what is best for a child and what is worst for a child can be pretty thin. Sometimes, it is just a matter of perspective that separates the two. This topic came up recently when a New Yorker from Eastern China made his son run nearly naked through the snow. The son was born prematurely and it seems the actions of this dad are premeditated, directed, pointed. From his perspective, this is was is best for his son and seen through the perspective of Eastern Chinese Philosophy, it just may be true. The Western perspective is quick to condemn this kind of behavior and may even question the Chinese ability to parent a child in the Western world.

But freedom to decide how one raises one's own child has not always been universally agreed upon, demanding decisions from the Supreme Court. Education, what kind of or if there should be any at all, is a child welfare issue taken up from time to time. In the United States, parents have a great degree of control over what their children learn. However, in Europe, education is stricter. Some commentators have questioned if teaching religion to a child is a form of child abuse by it self.

Then there are cases where the government insists on presenting a picture of a parent that doesn't match up to what the rest of the world sees. Kerry McDougall fled the UK at night for Ireland because social workers claimed she was too stupid to marry or care for a child. That kind of ruling happens...often enough that it would make more sense to ask you to Google it and pick a story than link to all of them. One would expect a judgment in one country to hold up in another country, however, the social workers in Ireland disagreed with the UK and Kerry has recently given birth to another child and seems to be doing well. Child abuse doesn't always means abuse at the hands of the parents and government systems that have the power to take children away are supposed to do it right the first time. If the Western world can screw up and traumatize kids by taking them away or by not (Baby P), what right do we have for judging a dad who makes his son run through the snowy streets of New York City if there is a specific point and benefit for the child?

The Quick Three - Evolution of Science

Marie Curie was turned down by the French Academy because she was a woman from Poland. Word went around she also was Jewish. Science back then was a gentleman's pursuit and the French were as stubernly nationalistic as we assume they are today, if not more so. There were short sighted assumptions about her abilities because other felt they knew better. These people also control the progress and direction of the sciences. If people today hold these same assumptions - they knew best - when setting limits on others, then the task carried out by institutions will be to limit and prevent good science.

Research related to deadlier flu virii has been put on hold at the behest of the scientific community. The researchers are open to debate on the ethics and risks involved. People can take sides. I will take the side of free speech and free access over censorship and restriction. One should not be restricted because one was born with a skin color, name or to parents of a centain nationality, yesterday's gender. However, the researchers did not help their own cause by saying they use the highest security standards (they do not) or by pausing it for only sixty days. Opponents are not helping their case by stating they do not need to hear from the researchers involved, but the researchers must hear from the opponents. Both sides are taking the low road.
Big Think

However, even though censorship looms large, why bother? A study in National Geographic points out scientists do far more informal censorship than any current law. Arthur Caplan could learn a thing or two. This is something many do not see happen.

Well, that is all for today. Cya tomorrow, maybe.

Iran and the EU - A story of moot points

The European Union recently declared it will impose sanctions on Iran... in ten months... pointedly to let both European refineries find new suppliers of crude... and let Iran find new buyers for its crude... so oil prices would not fluctuate.

If you were annoyed by my repeated use of aposiopesis, my thoughts keep falling short when tasked with finding a point to what the EU is doing. If the EU wishes to defund the Iranian nuclear program, then the EU should accept some consequences to unilateral actions. Instead, Iran will turn to China and China will get cheaper oil, improving its own economy and ability to compete against made in EU and made in the US products. Iran gains closer relations to a nuclear power who doesn't dance to the west's beat.

Great job EU.

Iran fires a missile (again)

CNN reports Iran test fired missiles in the strait of Hormuz on Monday during naval exercises, to which the world has responded to by condemning Iran for threatening to close the international passage that supplies the west with oil, a strategic resource which drives the economies that provide the resources that support the west's capacity for war. Smart move Iran, except for the fact you reported on your own news network you have no intention of closing the water way.

You heard me correctly. Iran is huffing and puffing, but he will not blow our door down.

While I agree with the strategy as legal in war time, I also see the act as closing the strait as an act of war and starting a war is an illegal act for any nation. While my American audience will feel morally at ease about war with Iran, please keep in mind sanctions on Iran are a prelude to war and the U.S. is quite aware of this. If the U.S. wants to start a fight with Iran, it knows exactly what it has to do. If you think of the U.S. and Iran as two kids bickering in the back seat of a car you are driving, the U.S. is keeping a pointed finger an inch from touching Iran and taunting 'Not touching, not touching!'

So the ethical dilemma the United States is faced with is what tool can it use to negotiate Iran way from a legal civil nuclear program to ensure Iran isn't pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Sanctions will right now lead to war. Pride will always keep the U.S. from humbling itself and forming a close tie with Iran within Iran's program. Is war ethical if humble diplomacy can keep the peace?

More important to me is how will this affect the development of human civilization as we reach for the stars. We are a type zero civilization who has yet to survive the transition to type one. How the world handles this crisis will affect how we handle this kind of situation in the future and have a say in how often we go to war. We also will give a bad first impression during our first contact with aliens who may decide to be our judge and jury.

I think the world should cry out, no against Iran at the moment, but against the world itself for how we are handling the very real crisis of Iran with nuclear weapons.

Personality cults and governence

Those of you who follow international news know about two important events in global politics that are seemingly unrelated, but show similarities and dangers we should be aware of in democracies.

The elections in Russia are contentious, marred by protests and ripe for international criticism. However, the elections are still democratic in nature, even if the qualities elected give the elections a less than trust worthy reputation. Vladimir Putin is a tough guy. He trains with the national Judo team, rides horses and does every thing he can to show the public he is masculine, hard as nails and much like Teddy Roosevelt of the U.S. It is what the public wants in an elected official. It may not be the best kind of leader the Russian electorate can elect, but there are emotional factors in who we elect in any democracy and Putin is very good at exploiting these emotions. It is why he was so successful as a KGB agent and later in his presidency.... Wait.... economic reforms?.... growth?.... a Chechen war?.... Okay, maybe there is some good sense behind his tough guy exterior, but these factors are not highlighted by his political campaign. He is the head of a familiar term we hear more often further south.

On July 8th, 1994, Kim Il-sung died. A nation wept, a son took power. He was the first of an official personality cult in North Korea. His son took over where he left off and when Kim Jong-il died, a nation wept.... forcefully wept. No one liked Kim Jong-il. He ruled with fear. He also enforced the personality cult, which covered all the horrible qualities he had as a leader. Feeding the nation didn't seem that big of a deal compared to him shooting a perfect game of golf, being a ladies man in novels and so on. This is not so different from what we are seeing in Russia right now, except Putin is actually a pretty good leader. But what if he wasn't?

In the United States, when we elected Obama, we were thinking about health care and economic reforms. The fact he was black was novel, but not a fact in his favor. A lot of racists excluded him as a president off the bat and then there were many that were hesitant. There were many that voted for him because he is black too. On balance, I doubt it decided the election. So he didn't head a personality cult by being black. He headed a personality cult by selling hope. Not a bad product to sell. I think it is fair game too. He was however not ready for presidency. He had grand ideas of introducing the Swedish health care model to the U.S. and his advisers said no. He had plans for transport and his advisers said no. He had plans and his advisers said no. For all the insults we have for bosses and their yes men, it seems ironic when a president finally surrounds himself with no men, we have an ineffectual presidency.

When we elect our future leaders, we need to sit back a moment and ask ourselves if we are in love with a cult personality or if we are down to the brass tacks. It is something I will think about before I buy my next computer.