Welcome to politics for engineers

The internet is a bad place to find your political opinions. You search for people who agree with you, and then you agree with them. You click the little red "x" at the top-right corner of your screen (or maybe the little red dot at the top-left if you're of the Macintosh persuasion) if somebody doesn't agree with them but you don't feel you can argue with them. Even if you do argue with them, you don't have to look them in the face, so you don't have to take them seriously so you don't. There's a turn of phrase that relates internet arguments to the Special Olympics.

I won't be able to change this.

These are the first few lines of the Engineering code of ethics:

(Taken from http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html)

Preamble
Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

I. Fundamental Canons
Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:

1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
5. Avoid deceptive acts.
6. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.

I will do my best to follow these tenets in this blog, which I hope will be composed of political ramblings, musings on my craft, and dry humor in equal measure. I am not an expert in any political or economic field, so I will have to call that one a draw. I hope that you, intrepid reader, will call me on it when I don't. Nobody is unbiased, and even the smartest people have holes in their reasoning. That's why engineers work in groups. Einstein came up with some of the mathematical and theoretical physics behind nuclear weapons (and nuclear energy) but it took many engineers several years to complete the Manhattan Project. Edsger Dijkstra solved many problems that made modern operating systems possible, but Windows (which, contrary to popular belief, is a fabulous operating system) was made possible through the labors of thousands of software engineers. Hence, I would like this blog to be a group effort. I will formulate my entries and responses as carefully as possible in the hope that you, dear intrepid reader, will afford me the same courtesy, but the internet is a place for loldongs as well. Nonetheless, I look forward to discussing my ideas and yours.

It's amazing what can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the credit.