Chaos Theory: Oberstar, Mica, Bike Trails

"Chaos Theory" deals with complex integrated systems and the unexpected, non-trivial macro outcomes of what would be generally considered micro-events. A butterfly in Iran flaps its wings, the monsoon in India lasts a little longer, African textiles are now more competitive, new schools open and literacy improves, and so on.

People in Minnesota voted and an established incumbent is replaced by the challenger. People in Florida decided to keep their incumbent. Across the county, for a thousand different reasons, people choose Red or Blue, and the small changes add up to a switch in the majority in the House of Representatives, which will bring non-trivial changes to many aspects of our lives.

"Transportation Policy" is an uninspired phrase that will never serve as a pickup line, but transportation is a major factor in our modern specialized lives. Probably everything in your house and everything in your pantry comes through the transportation system.

While we'd like to think our economic system is a pastiche of individual enterprises led by Adam Smith's invisible hand, there are in fact people in charge of the transportation structure. People like the Dept. of Transportation, which is a federal agency in the Executive Branch, which is funded and given oversight by Congress. (Boring, I know, but stick with me here, please.)

I've recently written about how the change in "ownership" (a telling concept, that) of the House of Representatives will result in significant changes in terms of river transportation policy. The key under-story is that the replacement of James Oberstar with John Mica as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee will have profound implications for the national transportation system.

Today brings us a message posted on the Montour Trail Yahoo Group from the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy. The message describes the impact that replacing Oberstar with Mica will have on bike trails.

To: Three-Rivers-Heritage-Trail@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, December 1, 2010 10:37:35 AM
Subject: [Three-Rivers-Heritage-Trail] A message from Kevin Mills, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Please help RTC stave off dangerous walking and bicycling attacks in the next transportation reauthorization! Encourage your colleagues and friends to visit www.railstotrails.org/AAA.

As you may imagine, the election results are already having a profound impact on the debate over reauthorization of federal transportation policy.

Decades-long cycling champion and current chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee James Oberstar (D-Minn.) lost his Congressional seat, costing our movement a passionate and knowledgeable transportation leader. As Republicans assume control of the House, John Mica (R-Fla.) is set to become the next committee chair, and Nick Rahall (D-W.V.) will be the ranking member of the committee.

One key argument I expect will gain significant traction in the new Congress will be the idea of a user-fee funded transportation system. In other words, instead of using gas taxes to develop balanced transportation systems that best meet the needs of communities, some seek to turn back the clock decades to a time when gas taxes were limited solely to providing roads and highways for automobiles. If this view takes root, it would effectively eliminate sources of funding for trails, walking and bicycling that have been the lifeblood of our movement. Transit funding also would suffer.

Such a backward-looking mentality was recently advanced by AAA, which is using the credibility of their enormous membership to sway decision-makers to take a position that most of their members find objectionable. To send a message that such an approach is unwise and unacceptable, RTC initiated a campaign asking AAA to join America's transportation future.

This campaign has proven wildly successful, with tens of thousands of Americans from around the country - many of whom are AAA members - calling on AAA National to support continuation of crucial bicycling and walking programs funded by federal gas taxes.

I need your help now. We are preparing to deliver names to AAA of those who have signed the petition. As active transportation leaders in your communities, you likely have access to e-mail lists and networks through which word of our campaign can be spread. We need to maximize the number of petitioners to demonstrate the popularity and importance of continued federal investment in walking and bicycling.

Will you please spread the word by Monday, December 6, to your colleagues, e-mail lists, Facebook and Twitter followers, and ask them to visit railstotrails.org/AAA?

Thank you for your support,

Kevin Mills, Vice President of Policy, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Please consider visiting www.railstotrails.org/AAA.

I'm intrigued at what all the implications of swapping Oberstar and Mica might be, and how we'll see them locally. Watch out for those butterflies!

Obligatory Matrix Revolutions Discussion

Okay, I've seen Matrix Revolutions for the second time. Here's the meager thoughts I can muster:
The Last Minute. In Matrix1 and Matrix2, the entire movie takes place in the last minute - which is probably true of all great presentations. In Matrix1 we saw Neo as the flying superhero who goes to a phone booth for his superpowers, able to leap tall buildings, able to stop bullets- which when combined with the cultural references (black cats) indicated that we are in the matrix and that there are artifacts from previous iterations - pretty much set the tone for the next move.

Matrix 2 developed those themes and explored of duality - order and choas, good and evil, the ambiguity of duality (machines & humans), uncertainty about intent, all summarized in the last minute: Neo and Bain/Cain, two sides of the same coin, good and evil, who are they, why are they here what do they want (the primary philosopher's questions,also repeated in the Neo/Architect scene). And the last minute of Matrix2 set the tone for Matrix3.

In Matrix3 we see Matrix characters trespassing into the real world and Machine world entities breaking into the Matrix, machines that behave like people {(the Indians, Mr. and Mrs. Merovingian - why would an AI omniscient indulge these tastses?) and people that behave like Machines (the Commander)}-- there's something about boundaries in this , there's Choice and Dharma, Male-Female, etc.

Gender plays out: let's point out that the only good drivers are Trinity and Naobi, the winners are the Oracle (it was the Oracle that beat Smith by implanting the verbalization of ending within Smith) and Sati; losers are Smith and the Architect. All the bad guys are, well, guys. Morpheus is somewhat emasculated after his loss of faith; Neo is, well, blind.

So I propose that, consitent with M1 and M2, the last minute of Matrix3 bears examination. Sati survives and makes the colored rainbow. The Oracle asks the Architect: What About the others?
A: What others? O: The others that want to get out. A: They can leave.

On first view I assumed they meant the people in the Matrix- but they never say people. After risking the world the thing that the Oracle wanted to confirm was: what? Could it be the freedom of the programs who want to get out of the machine world? Is it possible that the humans are not her alpha-goal? Anyway, I think I can say that this whole movie took place in the last minute also, although I don't have clear thoughts on where it's going.

Other small gleanings: Apparently the AI's can't/won't lie. Meringovian honors his deal to let them go. Smith pronounces his mortality and then dies. Architect uses "human" as a sterotype for lying. And: What's up with Smith calling Oracle "Mother"? Why was this segment called "Revolutions"?

It is quite possible that the Matrix persists, that Zion will continue as a QA catch basin for aberrations - straight out of chaos theory's strange attractors, by the way- and that the root story is not about the people. It's possible that the uberstory is about what the Oracle wants- which would be an inquiry into the ethical behavior of a free moral agent, returning to the level of discussion that critics mourned as missing in Matrix3.

And finally, a curious Slate article about a historial Merovingian and his Priory of Sion (Zion?). Could we possibly stick just a little more Christian imagery in this, beside the scene of Neo being carried off as the sacrificial offering for the ancient sins of others, his body aligned as if crucified, in front of the AI host that looks like a monstrance?

I thought it was an interesting movie. It was different from Matrix1. That's okay.