Action Figure Daniel

Blog

  • “The Goal (30th Anniversary Edition)” by Eliyahu M Goldratt and Jeff Cox

    • “Science” is about ‘common sense’
    • Make sure you are measuring the correct things
    • “Productivity is accomplishing something in relations to a goal”
    • The measurements are
      • Net profile
      • ROI
      • Net cash flow
    • ‘How do we link actual work to this money?’
    • New measurements
      • Throughput is the rate the system generates money through sales
      • Inventory is the money invested in things purchased to sell
      • Operational expense is the money the system spends to convert the inventory to throughput
    • The pursuit of efficiency is often counter to the goal
    • Dependent events limits the maximum fluctuations you can handle
    • Balance flow, not capacity
      • (All cars traveling at the same, slow speed, move fast than if left to their own choices)
    • Bottlenecks are when market demand exceeds capacity
    • Activating a resource is different from using it
    • We seek to optimize the whole system, not for local optimizations
    • Common practices can impede common sense
    • Kanban is a mechanism to signal for a backfill
      • This limits the available quantities, this also limits excess inventory
    • Sophisticated algorithms that track all variables are really difficult to get correct and not particularly useful
    • The effort to capitalize on improved service is markedly different than the effort needed to build the company

  • “Killed by A Traffic Engineer” by Wes Marshall

    • Cars have killed more people in the US than all our wars combined
    • Auto accidents are the leading cause of death until age 50 and older
    • ‘Safety First’ is a lie
    • It is always the drivers’ fault and never the engineers’
    • Most “standards” are actually “guides” that engineers are supposed to override with good judgement
    • The statement was patented 90 years before they were required
    • Standards don’t have safety in mind, they focus on efficieny
    • Focusing on education shifts blame while seeming to be doing something
    • Driver’s Education courses is not very effective and is mostly a money grab
    • We remove crosswalks that are not safe instead of changing the roads around them
      • Federal rules hold cities liable for pedestrian strikes within the crosswalk
      • (This is why Wailuku removed the crosswalk outside the bar)
    • Why do we let cars drive so fast?
      • (Change the road design to make it more difficult!)
    • “Better safety is fine as long as it does not mean fewer cars”
    • “Road safety” is always “comparative” against similar intersections
    • Metrics usually start with “drive time” or “miles traveled” rarely “capacity” and never “trips avoided (through proximity or alternate transit)”
    • We assume accident severities happen in escalations (for so many fender-benders there will be a severe accident, for so many severe accidents there are so many fatalities) so if you reduce fender-benders then you reduce everything worse
    • “Exposure” is important; If no one is walking on the street, there will be no pedestrian fatalities
    • Retro-reflectivity does not notably safety outcomes
      • The goal is to “increase roadway visibility”, not improve safety, so we repaint the lines anyway
    • “If it’s predictable, its preventable.”
    • We tell people it is safe to walk at the same time we tell cars they can turn
    • Active (drivers being dumb) vs latent (the system lets the driver be dumb) errors
    • Technology morphs our potential safety issues: human expect to be able to stop paying attention
    • Hands are faster and more precise than feet… so why are there not hand brakes?
    • 20-year traffic projections attempt to build for the future
    • Hindsight is not foresight
      • (This!)
    • There is a theory that “speed spread” (the differences between different vehicles) matters, not the actual speeds
      • (The good ole’ “driving slower than everyone else is a road hazard”… even if everyone else is going double the speed limit)
    • Speed studies inevitably push speeds up
    • It always comes back to capacity
    • Highways were weaponized to literally help “clear slums”
    • Many politicians use highways to shape their cities
    • GIS is a spatial relationship analysis tool
    • Fear of liability is not a very valid concern
    • The media frames situations without mentioning the driver
      • “A car hit a pedestrian” (no driver mentioned)
      • “Man hits store clerk” (assailant mentioned)
    • Maintaining a certain “level of service” (aka “capacity over time”) becomes the major choke point
    • We accommodate kids instead of planning for them
    • Transit is safer but we always tout it as being more efficient instead
    • Transportation should be about connecting people goods and services efficiently
    • Reducing transportation should be the goal
    • Changing our thinking is more important than throwing more money at the problem

  • “Poverty for Profit” by Anne Kim

    • Most renal services in America are performed by two companies
    • Dialysis is guaranteed under law
    • Earned Income Tax Credit encourages many tax preparers to focus on supporting low-income people because they can charge good money
    • Tax loans with interest are huge!
    • Preparers don’t generally need to have any certifications or courses
    • Maximus (corporation) offers turn-key welfare admin systems
    • Welfare programs today focus on dispelling people from the program rather than actual work training
    • Bail bonds don’t require refunds or cancellations for dismissed or acquitted cases
    • States often charge for correctional stays
    • Private prison labor can lower local economies by pushing down labor costs
    • The government funds the war on poverty but has outsourced much of it to corporations

  • “Off White” by Rachel Shabi

    • Modern European Jews have been absorbed into general whiteness
      • This makes the label tenuous
    • William the Conqueror brought Jews to England after the Normad conquest
      • They were the property of the King
      • They were not permitted to own land
      • They were permitted to lend money for interest
      • Interest was “evil” in the Christian church, so no one else did it
      • The King collected taxes on the money earned, so encouraged the practice
    • “Racism” does not translate pigment-by-pigment but adapts as needed
    • Jewish communities (“People of the Book”) in Arabic nations did not face racism like in Europe and North America
    • In the colonial era, “Jews were white Africans”
    • “Race is the child or racism, not the other way around”
    • The West has been driving for a “Eastern” colony; Israel can be that
    • Judeo-Christian narratives were created to make it seem like we are all related

  • “A Mind of Your Own” by Kelly Brogan, M. D.

    • Food is an information source for the body
    • Much of current medical practice is based on theory, not reliable evidence
    • Inflammation is a key correlate
    • Depression is a symptom of problems
    • Short-term stress is okay but long-term is deadly
    • Depression shares a lot in common with inflammation
    • There is probably not “good” and “bad” bacteria but relative levels
    • Cholesterol is needed for a healthy brain
    • “If you need an antacid daily, maybe you should consider a dietary changes”
    • Acetaminophen blunts emotions
    • No indigenous diet is strictly vegetarian
    • Cellular starches are okay
    • Beans, beans, beans
    • Most cholesterol in your body is produced by your body
    • Scents come alter moods and hormones