Russ Steele
The local newspaper is poking into my back ground and community relationships, apparently looking for some conflicts of interest. Here is my disclosure before you read about it in the Union.
1. I am native of Nevada County, born in a clinic in Nevada City. I grew up roaming Pioneer Park, the slopes of Banner Mountain, and the Panther Creek drainage in Idaho. I was introduced to the the "good old days" in Nevada County early in my life, as my mother's side of the Thomas family has been here since the mid 1800s. I worked at the Empire Mine before it closed in 1956. I lived part of those "good old days."
2. I am a cold war vet with 20 years in the Air Force as an Electronics Warfare Officer, retiring as a Lt Colonel. I am patriot, with some insight to how the military works, yet think it is time to move beyond fighting the last cold war and move more aggressively in our war on radical Islamic terrorism. Kill, or be killed.
3. I have been an economic development volunteer for over ten years and a past GV/NC Chamber Board member. I am currently on the Economic Resource Council Board, a Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation Board member, and a Nevada County Transportation Commissioner. In my spare time I am a freelance writer, writing for regional and national magazines and an active blogger on local issues here, and on other local blogs, specifically the ERC blogs, SESF blog and The Dalton Minimum Returns. For several years in the 1990s I wrote a column for The Union. I am working on two books one on cobalt mining in Idaho and the other on technology development in Nevada County from 1950 to 2000.
4. Only recently introduced to the "The Law" by Bastiat I find comfort and agreement in the ideas expressed in this small book on security, liberty and property. Nanny government is destroying our nation, restricting our freedom, taking our property, and doing little to make us feel secure.
5. I am a social scientist by degree, but in the Air Force I was exposed to the complex world of electronic warfare. In this discipline, you must have a vivid imagination to grasp how complex systems interact under stress on the battle field. Upon Air Force retirement I joined and aerospace company as a conceptual design engineer connecting current systems to future military and civilian needs. My first challenge was how to manage software changes when combat system are already on the battle field, when a software error could turn a pilot into a little greasy spot on the ground. The second was how autos will communication with roadside services, including traffic management, traveler information, emergency services and each other. Systems and services that are in use today.
6. As a social scientist I have developed some rules of thumb for judging people and their motives. These rules long ago convinced me that peoples actions speak louder than words.
7. I am on the political right, but when I go to the County Fair and take the "Where do you Stand" political quiz, I end up on the libertarian square. I am not 100% libertarian as I have a hard time subscribing to their isolationism. This philosophy does not serve us well in a globally connected world, we cannot ignore the danger lurking in the third world gap. I am a registered Republican, but have voted for Democrats in past, however it did not turn out well and would not do it again. I have worked on, or contributed to, the campaigns of Nate Beason, Sue Horne, John Spencer, Ted Owen, and other candidates no longer in office, or did not win election. In the current presidential campaign, I donated to Fred Thompson's campaign and I will have a very difficult time voting for John McCain.
8. I am a Christian, but I find the politics of an organized church troubling, preferring to seek religious answers on my own in the comfort of Mother Nature. When examining the complexity of the world we live in from the top or mountain, looking at the stars at the ends of my finger tips, I have a hard time thinking this is all an accident without cause, yet we live in a world driven by chaos. I am still look for the solutions to my questions, but for every answer there seems to be just more questions.
9. I see the world through the lens of past experience and anticipation of the future. Yes, rose colored lenses with a shaded blue tint near the bottom. I think more about the future than the past, but I am often reminded those who do not learn from the past will replay their mistakes in the future. Then again, the rate of change is producing interesting challenges with little history to give context. From my perspective crap happens without reason, it just happens. We live in a chaotic universe and our sense of rational stability is only a gap between the chaos.
10. I believe that as humans we are destined to explore new frontiers and we have only stopped at this comfortable way station on our way into the Universe. To take the next big move forward we must evolve, as our frail bodies are not well suited for the next great leap forward. Our next big challenge will be the Singularity.
11. I highly regret not being around for our trip into the stars, it will come many generations after I am looking at the wrong side of grass, but I am more than willing to help set the stage those who will take the next big leap forward. But, first we must imagine what we want to be in the future then build a path to our vision. We must evolve!
12. I am really not going any where physically, but my mind does wonder at times, questioning, probing, and building a mental foundation for my next project. Stay tuned, change is a foot.
Thanks George for the prompt and template. Also, I reserve the right to update this in the future.