Beijing Smog Signals Even Darker Times

Apocalypse now!  In Beijing, smog levels have been described by officials as "crazy bad" on their Twitters, and the levels of air quality were beyond 500, which is the max limit of hazardous on the air level charts, according to the New York Times in their article "'Airpocalypse' Smog hits Beijing at dangerous levels."  The article explains going outside in levels above 300 is not recommended.

And there's more: If you want to see the sun rise in Beijing, they have LED screens that show the sun rise.  Check out Business Insider's article "The smog is so bad in Beijing you have to watch the sun rise on TV," and watch the video they posted.  While the video is rather cheesin', it raises some serious issues, one of the scariest being "the season's first wave of extremely dangerous smog," implying that this is just the beginning.

An earlier article by the New York Times titled "Urbanites flee China's smog for blue skies" features a family that fled Guangzhou, a large city in the south, to escape the smog.  The feature uses the term 'environmental refugees.'

As one article described, the scene is reminiscent of Blade Runner or perhaps the Matrix.  As pollution increases, gases are trapped in the atmosphere, acting as an insulator, and, just like a greenhouse, the temperature keeps rising.  But that's a heavier topic for another time.      

A Bit About Books

Today, The New York Times posted a short, light story discussing the differences between paper and e- books.  The article featured a recent survey that showed the majority of teenagers interviewed preferred paper books.  Studies like these, during the time our culture is transferring everything online, are fascinating in that they beg the discussion: Is new technology always better?

This is where dystopias come in.  I am not going to answer the question of whether or not new technology is always better - I am merely going to tip my hat to Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, and the Wachowski brothers, creators/directors of The Matrix, both of which address the question of advancing technology beautifully.

More US Governmental Problems... Classic.

Of course, we have run into yet another governmental deadline: by Dec. 1, today, the problems with HealthCare.gov are supposed to be cleared up.

Good luck to us with that.  Check out The New York Times' article, Sunday Breakfast Menu, which doesn't specify the details but promises more information as the topic surely advances this week.

It seems as if our society is headed for dystopia no matter which direction we go: too little government, and we'll end up in a Lord-of-the-Flies situation where we are forced to make our own rules; too much government, and 1984's Big Brother and Party will reappear.

But with all this NSA phone tapping, I'd better watch out what I say to guard against thoughtcrime.  Or espionage and/or sedition.  Because those are still things.    

Congress Agrees?!

Congress voted on and has passed the bill to increase the debt ceiling!  Read about it in The New York Times article "Congress Passes Debt Deal."

Room to Breathe? US Senate Gets Its Act Together

Today, members of the Senate reached an agreement to put the pin back in the grenade - to reopen the government and extend the Treasury's ability to borrow money.  The agreement will fund the government through January 15, and it would raise the debt ceiling until February 7.  (For more on the debt ceiling, check out my previous post or Forbes' in-detail analysis.)

The Senate has assigned December 13 as the deadline for a detailed budget.  Check out The New York Times article "Senate Paves Way To End Debt Impasse." The article discusses that the deal wasn't pretty for either side, but that "the deal... yielded virtually no concessions to the Republicans."  Now, the Senate and the House are both working on translating the agreement into "legislative language."  Both are expected to vote tonight.

CNN's article "Senate reaches deal to end shutdown, avoid default," covers the story and includes a video.  

If you're curious as to what this means for stock investments, take a look at The Boston Globe's business spin, "Dow Surges on Debt Deal."  Like the title says, the Dow (Dow Jones Industrial Average - an important stock market index) surges with the Senate's agreement.

So, for now, we've avoided a modern-day dystopia... But I'm sure come January and February, we'll see a similar sticky situation.  

US White House Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down...

What could be a more appropriate way to begin a discussion about dystopias than the shut down of our very own government?  For the first time in almost twenty years, the US government has shut down.  If you missed that, or missed why that happened, check out this article, "Government Shuts Down In Budget Impasse," from The New York Times (Sept 30).

Without starting a belabored discussion about the dismal state of affairs in the world of US government, it is safe to say that this lack-of-an-operating government stems from the fact that today, our country is more politically polarized than since post-Civil-War Reconstruction.  This polarization has grown from the general population and now infects Congress; fewer representatives and senators identify as 'moderate,' and what happens?  Congress can't agree on a new budget after delaying for nine months (the budget was supposed to be ready by January... and then was extended to March... then sequestration happened...)  If you like charts and graphs, this Voteview.com article, "The Polarization of the Congressional Parties," graphs out the progression of political polarization from 1879 to 2009 with multiple charts.    

What are the implications of this tendency toward extremism, at least in political ideology?