joe stafura
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joe stafura commented on Controversial Ideas About Life and Death on April 7, 2009, 8:26 PM
This particular idea of rationing health care at the end of life instead of economic status is the only answer that makes sense for the current US situation. The problem is that the congress has a difficult time have any rational conversations about life as the religious aspect soon drives the conversation into area where there are no answers. We don't know when life begins, or ends, and have no evidence that keeping older people alive is the right thing to do. But the proposed ideas, Electronic Health Care, HMO's and Pharma have all been debunked as methods to save money and exposed as ways to divert health care funds into more layers of expense with no real health benefits.
joe stafura commented on Is there a demographic crisis in the Middle East? on October 27, 2008, 2:39 PM
Mr. Soros has once again provided us with a great starting point for turning the dialog about energy from a political football into maybe the first unified global effort.I worked for NASA in the 70's and in commercial industry throughout the 80 until the present and have seen how the innovations of the Space Program became the seed for the expansion in computer, material and chemical technologies. His suggestion would result in an even larger and more inclusive impact, providing opportunities around the world. If this idea were to be acted on it could be the crown jewel of the legacy of the greatest global citizen of our times.
joe stafura commented on Will this century be as violent as the previous one? on January 9, 2008, 1:40 PM
Violence as it pertains to the individual has been dropping for centuries, it used to be anonymous murders in villages and corn fields. The statement is wrong, all data shows violence going down and this one will be more of the same.
Will the reduction of suffering overtake materialism as mankind's main priority?
Civilization has made great progress, especially over the last 300 years as life became less brutal and people's sense of empathy extended to global proportions. It is clear than some of us have more than we need in material goods and comforts, while many are still suffering from conditions that are barbaric and dangerous. Communism and Socialism, while well intended in most cases, have resulted in horrific acts due to our poor understanding of power and it's effects on our decision making, while materialism appears to have run it's course. Many great thinkers, Einstein, Rees and Vonnegut, spent the last of their lives disillusioned with our chances feeling that we are doomed to self destruction. For us optimists this is not acceptable and hope is the only path, the recent discovery that we are still evolving, over turning the mythical beliefs that we are "done" as proposed by religions. Can we change quickly enough to save the species or will we join the Neanderthals? … Read More
January 8, 2008 | In
Technologist with a varied career in the areas of aerospace, inertial guidance systems, printing and publishing technologies, graphic arts, eCommerce and AI software.
Active in small scale business creation during this part of my life working with a network of kindred spirits.
joe stafura commented on Carlo Ratti Reframes the Economic Crisis on April 7, 2009, 9:02 PM
What he was saying is that punctuated equilibrium is at work. The driver of these big changes is a larger than average change in the context that we are existing. This is evident in the global scale events such as the great extinctions, the most recent 65 million years ago caused by an astrological event. Humans have been altering their context with technology and the results have been leaps of progress, some examples; 2000 years ago, 1215, 1439, the late 1700's, and early 1900's. We are more than likely going through a very large change driven fundamentally by mechanical-electronic-bionic technology and the expansion of the social order towards true globalization. The march towards globalization is really a continuation of expanding social structures that began at the beginning of our days, before even achieving "humanness". I share Carlos's optimism for the other side of this painful change, we have made tremendous progress since the 1500's when we lived 30-40 years in a world where no one washed and most people were hungry and starving a good part of the time unless you were rich. Onward to a world where hungry is as far in the past as outdoor bathrooms.