Speculation

I am going to make the attempt to post regularly. Last week was sporadic at best, even though I had definite ideas about what I wanted to post. One of those ended up getting postponed until yesterday... So, today, I am blogging, even though I have no ideas.

I was just reading about the speculation on the health of Kim Jong Il. Some say he is suffering from heart problems and diabetes, some say he has recovered. Some are questioning if we can believe anything anyone has to say about North Korea. It occurs to me that in a country like North Korea (or, more properly, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) any health problems that the leadership may have would be closely guarded state secrets. At the same time, if Kim Jong Il's health is bad, he cannot hide it forever. What we KNOW is that he has not made many public appearances lately. What we infer from that, is that his health is failing. Certainly there may be other factors involved, but, again, in a country like that one, staying in the public eye is generally a top priority. Kim Jong Il doesn't want anyone speculating that he is ill.

Let's be honest about this, President Kennedy went to great lengths to hide his health problems from the country; President Franklin D. Roosevelt disliked being photographed in a wheelchair because he felt it made him look weak. In that respect, the leader of North Korea is not much different than our own leaders. The difference, of course, being that if Kim appears weak, there is a much greater chance of a military coup installing a new leader. Kennedy and Roosevelt only had to worry about the next election, or the somewhat unlikely invoking of Article II section 1 of the Constitution (inability of the president to discharge the duties of the office).

So, can we expect to get an accurate report on Kim Jong Il's health? I would have to say, no. He doesn't want us to know about any health problems he may have. We really can't get reliable enough information to make that determination.

All too often, people make the mistake of speculating without facts in hand. Two plus two equals five or six or even nineteen. I've noticed, in particular, that whenever a man and a woman become friends, people almost always assume that there is more going on than just friendship. To some extent, I can understand that. I am a man, and I know how hard it is for a man to maintain a friendship with a woman (particularly if she happens to be attractive), but I also know that it does happen.

Some of you may be familiar with "The Conscience of a Hacker." The recurring refrain in that manifesto is, "They're all alike." That's a common assumption, but it isn't true. We are each individuals, and although I may have similarities to some other people, I am me, and there is only one like me. The manifesto deals with a student in junior high or high school who is clearly, and understandably, torqued off that he (or she) gets lumped in with every other student. The teachers fail to recognize the intellect, labelling this student an underachiever instead of noticing the potentialof the student, and the desire to be challenged. If the teacher can't find a way to challenge this young mind, he will find his own challenges. Don't misunderstand me, I think we have a lot of great teachers in this country--I have a lot more problem with the public school system, and the teachers are the strongest link, not the weakest. Still, when a teacher has 5 or 6 classes of 25 to 30 students each day (do the math, that's 125 to 180 students), it can be difficult to tell which students are brilliant, which are just dumb as toast, and how to encourage and motivate each of those students in a mass learning environment. How long does the average teacher even try, before succumbing to a bloated and overcrowded system? Eventually, all the students do seem the same.

By the way, if you didn't understand why this blog is called, "Ramblings" you should know now. If you don't get it, read back through this post and see how much jumping around I did. Granted, it is all connected to the subject of speculation, but still...