Longevity

We spent a lot of time in today's meeting over the question, "How long do you want to live." There are really two issues, a personal one and one for society as a whole. What kind of life can we expect if we live longer, and what would greater longevity lead to overpopulation. Here are two TED talks which address these issues.

1) This talk was recommended by Norm last week. It demonstrates how our phones can be used in medical diagnosis. It is related to today's meeting in that it shows how our personal live can be extended.

2) There was some concern about how longevity would exasperate population growth. Lowell thought that there would be natural population control. Al thought that education will help reduce the birth rate. They were both right. Here is a TED talk which claims that the world population should stabilize at ten billion.

With technology we could live longer, and it now seems that we don't need to feel guilty about increasing the world population. However, there is the problem of outliving your money. Too make matter worst, people fear runaway inflation and blame the Fed. One of the more infamous conspiracy theories is about the Fed's role in the Kennedy assassination was brought up at today's meeting. This story is debunked HERE.

Not About Medicare

Most of today's discussion was about medicare. There were some non-medicare issues.

1) Al Jazeera English - Dory noted that tomorrow there will to be a TV report about Baltimore on Al Jazeera English, as stated in this article in the Baltimore Sun. Most of us don't subscribe to the Al Jazeera cable TV channel, but there is an Al Jazeera website that will probably post the show on a later date. I did find this promo on YouTube. The Baltimore show will be on the program called Fault Lines; here is a link to the Fault Lines page on the Al Jazeera website.

2) The Mormons - It was revealed that Mitt Romney will embrace his Mormon religion during the GOP National Convention. PBS apparently announced that it will rebroadcast its American Experience / Frontline two part special on the Mormons. I don't know the airtime but you can watch it HERE on the internet.

3) WikiLeaks - Julian Assange is has been granted asylum in the Ecuador Embassy in London. In our meeting today, we were not sympathetic to Assange. But I found this interview giving at TED, which at least gives the other side of the story.

Election Websites

With the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt's VP the election has kicked into high gear. Even though Romney says that he has his own policies, Ryan's budget proposals will no doubt dominate the discussion. If our meeting was any indication of national sentiment, we should see an intense debate until the election. Here are two websites for those that what to follow the election:

1) http://votesmart.org - Ken suggested this website for an objective discussion of the issues.

2) http://electoral-vote.com - This site focuses on the only thing which really counts, the electoral votes. The election forecast is based not on national polling, but on state by state polling.

Mars, the Plan

We already know how it turned out, but here's the plan for those that missed it.

Olympic Impropriety

Every Olympics has had it controversies and London 2012 is no exception. But the London Olympics controversies have been surprisingly blatant. Here is an incomplete list of controversies of the first week. Please let me know if missed anything.

1) Eight badminton players were disqualified for trying to lose. This article explain why. I don't think the tactic was illegal, but with both sides so blatantly trying to lose, the game became a farce and something had to be done.

2) A Chinese swimmer did so well that she is immediately presumed to be doping, even without proof. Is it just "sour grapes" or are so used to this story that we know how it is going to end.

3) A referee blatantly favored an Azerbaijan boxer over a Japanese boxer. The referee's misbehavior was so obvious that we have to wonder how he thought he would not get caught.

4) Amputee South African runner Oscar Pistorius was allowed to competed with special carbon-fiber blades. This was called historic, but it should have been a scandal. How can anybody say that he did not have an unfair advantage.